Electronically scanned optical coherence tomography with frequency modulated signals
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An optical system for imaging body tissue comprising:
- a beam generator which receives a light beam and generates a reference light beam and a sample light beam, the sample light beam being directed at body tissue to be imaged;
a first coupler which receives the reference light beam and generates a plurality of reference light beams;
a plurality of first optical fibers, each first optical fiber being coupled to receive one of the plurality of reference light beams;
a plurality of modulators, each modulator being coupled to one of the plurality of first optical fibers for receiving one of the plurality of reference light beams from one of the plurality of first optical fibers, each modulator modulating the reference light beam at a unique modulation frequency;
a plurality of second optical fibers, each one of the second optical fibers being coupled to one of the plurality of modulators for receiving the modulated reference light beam from the modulator;
a second coupler which receives a reflected sample light beam which is reflected off the body tissue; and
a beam combiner coupled to the second coupler, the beam combiner receiving the reflected sample light beam from the second coupler, receiving the modulated reference light beam and generating a combined light beam.
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Abstract
An improved Optical Coherence Domain Reflectometry (OCDR) system is provided. One embodiment of this OCDR system outputs a detector signal carrying image depth information on multiple modulation frequencies, where each modulation frequency corresponds to a different image depth. The image depth information from the detector signal may be resolved by tuning to the desired modulation frequency. Another system for imaging body tissue uses multiple frequency modulators such that the light beam does not travel from an optical fiber to free space.
144 Citations
18 Claims
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1. An optical system for imaging body tissue comprising:
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a beam generator which receives a light beam and generates a reference light beam and a sample light beam, the sample light beam being directed at body tissue to be imaged;
a first coupler which receives the reference light beam and generates a plurality of reference light beams;
a plurality of first optical fibers, each first optical fiber being coupled to receive one of the plurality of reference light beams;
a plurality of modulators, each modulator being coupled to one of the plurality of first optical fibers for receiving one of the plurality of reference light beams from one of the plurality of first optical fibers, each modulator modulating the reference light beam at a unique modulation frequency;
a plurality of second optical fibers, each one of the second optical fibers being coupled to one of the plurality of modulators for receiving the modulated reference light beam from the modulator;
a second coupler which receives a reflected sample light beam which is reflected off the body tissue; and
a beam combiner coupled to the second coupler, the beam combiner receiving the reflected sample light beam from the second coupler, receiving the modulated reference light beam and generating a combined light beam. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification