The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 17, 2000
Filed:
Feb. 27, 1996
Guillermo Tearney, Cambridge, MA (US);
Stephen A Boppart, Boston, MA (US);
Brett E Bouma, Boston, MA (US);
Mark Brezinski, Malden, MA (US);
Eric A Swanson, Acton, MA (US);
James G Fujimoto, Cambridge, MA (US);
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA (US);
Abstract
An imaging system for performing optical coherence tomography includes an optical radiation source; a reference optical reflector; a first optical path leading to the reference optical reflector; and a second optical path coupled to an endoscopic unit. The endoscopic unit preferably includes an elongated housing defining a bore; a rotatable single mode optical fiber having a proximal end and a distal end positioned within and extending the length of the bore of the elongated housing; and an optical system coupled to the distal end of the rotatable single mode optical fiber, positioned to transmit the optical radiation from the single mode optical fiber to the structure and to transmit reflected optical radiation from the structure to the single mode optical fiber. The system further includes a beam divider dividing the optical radiation from the optical radiation source along the first optical path to the reflector and along the second optical path; and a detector positioned to receive reflected optical radiation from the reflector transmitted along the first optical path and reflected optical radiation transmitted from the structure along the second optical path. The detector generates a signal in response to the reflected optical radiation from the reference reflector and the reflected optical radiation from the structure, and a processor generating a image of the structure in response to the signal from the detector. The system provides both rotational and longitudinal scanning of an image.