| 摘要 |
<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) imaging inside a blood vessel without having to block blood flow. Ž<P>SOLUTION: An optical tomographic imaging probe is provided with: a cylindrical probe outer casing; an optical fiber disposed inside the probe outer casing in an axial direction of the probe outer casing; a plurality of transparent inflatable/deflatable split balloons provided circumferentially across an outer circumferential surface of a transparent portion of the probe outer casing, through which a light beam is to be emitted from the optical fiber towards an measurement object, so as to equally divide the circumferential direction; and a balloon inflating/deflating means which respectively and individually inflates/deflates each split balloon. Images are captured by removing only blood from image pickup areas without having to block blood flow, and a tomographic image of the entire circumference of the inner wall of the blood vessel is obtained by compositing the images. Ž<P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT Ž
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