Coherence gated doppler motion sensor and medical applications

摘要

A motion sensor applicable to medical procedures includes a source of light with a wavelength bandwidth and an optical detector. A first optical coupler terminates in a first probe tip and couples the light into the first probe tip. A second optical coupler terminates in a second probe tip and directs onto the detector scattered light returning through the second probe tip. A presentation device outputs a signal that indicates motion in a target volume of a sample in a vicinity of the probe tips based on a Doppler shift of the scattered light. The volume depends on coherence distance determined by the bandwidth. In variations, the first and second tips are the same tip, a multimode fiber is included, the bandwidth is between 0.1% and 5% of a center wavelength, or the presentation device is a speaker, or some combination.

主权项

1. An apparatus comprising:
an optical source of light comprising a band of wavelengths with a bandwidth that is in a range between 0.1% and 2.9% of a center wavelength of the band of wavelengths; an optical detector; a first optical coupler configured to direct light from the optical source through an emission optical path that terminates at a distal end in a single probe tip; a second optical coupler configured to direct onto the optical detector scattered light returning from the single probe tip through a return optical path; and a presentation device configured to output a signal that indicates motion in a target volume of a sample in a vicinity of the single probe tip based on a Doppler shift between the light from the light source and the scattered light received at the detector through the single probe tip, whereby the target volume is based on a coherence distance determined by the bandwidth of the band of wavelengths of the light from the optical source.