Mauna Kea Technologies

Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique

Université De Limoges

Bertrand Viellerobe

Francois Lacombe

Magalie Genet

Nicolas Boularot

Nicolas Lavillonniere

Frederic Berier

Alexandre Loiseau

Francois Doussoux

Aymeric Perchant

Alain Barthelemy

Dominique Pagnoux

François Lacombe

Anne Osdoit

Gilles Mathieu

Frédéric Louradour

Geneviève Bourg-Heckly

Sandra Marti

Georges Le Goualher

Frédéric Berier

Sophie Clade

Benjamin Abrat

Stéphane Bourriaux

Pedro Santos

François Doussoux

Charlotte Cave

Mickael Lelek

Florence Jean

Jérôme Lopez

Michaël Lelek

An endoscopy device includes several light guides (), each light guide having one or more optical fibers. The light guides are coupled with a sweeping system () arranged to direct an excitation light beam in alternation in one of the fibers of the guides from the proximal end of the guide including the one of the fibers. In this way, the proximal ends of the guides may make use of the same sweeping system, whereas the distal ends of the guides may be installed simultaneously in different zones of interest of an object or animal () under study for an almost simultaneous observation of the zones of interest. The invention also relates to an endoscopy method used in a device according to the invention. A device and a method according to the invention may be applied to quasi-simultaneous reflectance, fluorescence, multi-photon imaging of several areas of interest.

Endoscopy device and method for simultaneous observation of several zones of interest

An imaging device including an illumination module including at least one emitter for emitting at least one excitation beam, a scanning and injection module including an image guide, a proximal end and a distal end of which are linked by a plurality of optical fibers, and a scanning and injection optical system configured to alternately inject the at least one excitation beam into an optical fiber of the image guide from the proximal end of the image guide, and a detection module including at least one detector for detecting at least one luminous flux collected at the distal end of the image guide. At least one of the illumination module and the detection module is optically conjugated with the scanning and injection module by a conjugating optical fiber.

Modular imaging system, modules for this system and method implemented using this system

An optical head includes: a point source producing an excitation beam, optical elements adapted to converge the optical beam into an excitation point located in a subsurface plane relative to the surface of a sample, the plane being perpendicular to the optical axis of the optical head; and elements for scanning the excitation point so as to define an observation field in the subsurface plane along two perpendicular scanning directions, a rapid online scanning and a slow columnar scanning. The invention includes micro-electrical mechanical systems designed to move in translation along a selected displacement at least one of the optical elements, which is mobile along a direction perpendicular to the optical axis so as to obtain at least one of the scanning directions. The invention provides the advantages of maintaining an axial illumination of the sample and of using a miniature head.

Miniature confocal optical head with integrated scanning and confocal imaging system using same

A miniaturized optical head provided to equip the distal end of a beam of flexible optical fibers scanned by a laser beam, is designed to come in contact with a sample and to excite the sample confocally. This optical head includes elements for correcting spherical aberrations and focusing members. The focusing members include: at least a first lens (L) of high convergence associated with a spherical or hemispherical lens (L) arranged at the distal end of the optical head, and elements for correcting the axial and lateral chromatic aberration provided with a single divergent lens () whose curvature is substantially centered on the pupil of the optical fiber beam and arranged at the exact distance for this pupil for which the conditions of lateral achromatization coincide with the conditions of axial achromatization; this divergent lens being associated with a second convergent lens (L) in the form of a doublet (L).

Miniaturized optical head with high spatial resolution and high sensitivity, especially for fibred confocal fluorescence imaging

A system for carrying out fibered multiphoton microscopic imagery of a sample () for use in endoscopy or fluorescence microscopy includes: a femtosecond pulsed laser () for generating a multiphoton excitation laser radiation; an image guide () having a number of optical fibers and permitting the sample to be illuminated by a point-by-point scanning in a subsurface plane; pre-compensating elements () for pre-compensating for dispersion effects of the excitation pulses in the image guide (), these elements being situated between the pulsed laser and the image guide (); scanning elements for directing, in succession, the excitation laser beam in a fiber of the image guide, and; in particular, an optical head () for focussing the excitation laser beam exiting the image guide in the sample ().

System and method for carrying out fibre-type multiphoton microscopic imaging of a sample

The invention relates to a method for producing a fluorescent fiber image of a sample, wherein a sample is scanned with the aid of an excitation signal; the fluorescent signal emanating from the sample is detected, wherein the excitation signal and fluorescent signal use the same optical path; the optical path is used to excite at least two fluorophores contained in the sample; a final image is produced, including areas that are colored according to the at least two fluorophores. The multimarking according to the invention makes it possible to simultaneously acquire two images in two different wavelength bands. The system according to the invention can comprise a spectrometer for spectral quantification of the fluorescent signal.

Multimarking fibre-type fluorescence microscopic imaging method and system

An imaging device includes an illumination module comprising at least one emitter for emitting at least one excitation beam; a scanning and injection module comprising an image guide, a proximal end and a distal end of which are linked by a plurality of optical fibers; a scanning and injection optical system configured to alternately inject the at least one excitation beam into an optical fiber of the image guide from the proximal end of the image guide; a detection module comprising a detector for detecting a luminous flux collected at the distal end of the image guide, wherein at least one of the illumination module and the detection module is optically conjugated with the scanning and injection module using a conjugating optical fiber.

A method using an image guide having several thousands of optical fibers, an excitation signal emitted by a source, deflected and injected by turns into the optical fibers, each excitation point of the tissue in the fiber output emitting in return a fluorescence signal collected by the fiber, then detected and digitized to form an image element. The method focuses the beam in the fiber output to excite a subsurface plane to produce a confocal image. The production of a divergent beam in the fiber output can excite a micro-volume of the tissue from the surface. The method deflects the excitation signal at a speed corresponding to acquisition of a number of images per second sufficient for real time use and in detecting the fluorescence signal at a detecting frequency corresponding to a minimum frequency for sampling the fibers one-by-one.

Method and equipment for fiber optic high-resolution, in particular confocal, fluorescence imaging

Equipment includes an image guide () consisting of flexible optical fibers with: on the proximal end side: a source (), angular scanning elements (), injection elements () in one of the fibers, elements for splitting () the illuminating beam and the backscattered signal, elements for spatial filtering (), elements for detecting () the signal, electronic elements () for controlling, analyzing and digital processing of the detected signal and display; and on the distal end side: an optical head () for focusing the illuminating beam exiting from the illuminated fiber. The scanning elements include a resonant line mirror (M) and a galvanometric field mirror (M) with a variable frequency and two afocal optical systems adapted to conjugate the two mirrors (M, M) firstly in the field mirror (M) and the injection elements () in the image guide in a second step.

Confocal imaging equipment in particular for endoscope

An optical head for equipping the distal end of a flexible optical fiber bundle, designed to be urged into contact with an analyzing surface and including optical elements for focusing an excitation signal into a so-called excitation focal point located at a specific depth beneath the analyzing surface and for sampling a signal backscattered by the excitation focal point which is carried back by the fiber bundle. The head includes an optics-holder tube wherein are inserted on one side the distal end portion of the fiber bundle and on the other optical elements, the latter including a plate placed in contact with the end of the fiber bundle whereof the index is close to that of the fiber core and a focusing optical block, an output window being further provided adapted to provide index adaptation so as to eliminate parasitic reflection occurring on the analyzing surface.

Miniaturized focusing optical head in particular for endoscope

Growing community of inventors

Nogent-Sur-Marne, France

Bertrand Viellerobe