Fiber-coupled, high-speed, integrated, angled-dual-axis confocal scanning microscopes employing vertical cross-section scanning

摘要

This invention provides an angled-dual-axis confocal scanning microscope comprising a fiber-coupled, angled-dual-axis confocal scanning head and a vertical scanning unit. The angled-dual-axis confocal scanning head is configured such that an illumination beam and an observation beam intersect optimally at an angle theta within an object and the scanning is achieved by pivoting the illumination and observation beams using a single scanning element, thereby producing an arc-line scan. The vertical scanning unit causes the angled-dual-axis confocal scanning head to move towards or away from the object. By integrating the angled-dual-axis confocal scanning microscope of the present invention with fiber-optic components and a fiber-coupled laser, the present invention also provides an assembly of fiber-based angled-dual-axis confocal scanning systems that can be particularly powerful tools in biological and medical imaging applications, such as instruments for performing optical coherence microscopy and in vivo optical biopsies.