Depth-selective fiber-optic probe
First Claim
1. A fiber-optic probe that facilitates characterization of superficial tissue, comprising:
- an illumination fiber, wherein the illumination fiber is a multi-mode optic fiber;
a collection fiber, wherein the collection fiber is a multi-mode optic fiber;
a ball lens that couples the illumination fiber and collection fiber; and
a protective overtube that houses the illumination fiber, the collection fiber, and the ball lens, wherein the arrangement of the illumination fiber, the collection fiber, and the ball lens facilitates a constant penetration depth and are arranged based on an optimization of a first diameter of an illumination spot, a second diameter of a collection spot, a separation distance between the illumination spot and the collection spot, and an angle between an illumination beam and a collection beam, wherein the optimization maximizes an overlap between an illumination area of the illumination fiber and a collection area of the collection fiber.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods that facilitate analysis of superficial tissue based at least in part on a depth-selective fiber optic probe are discussed herein. The depth-selective fiber optic probe can include an illumination fiber for providing light to the superficial tissue, a collection fiber for collected reflected light, a ball lens that couples the fibers, and a protective overtube that houses the ball lens and fibers. The distances between the ball lens and fibers and between the fibers can be optimized based on several factors, such as by minimizing the illumination spot size, maximizing the overlap between the illumination and collection spots, and based on the angle between the illumination and collection beams.
11 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A fiber-optic probe that facilitates characterization of superficial tissue, comprising:
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an illumination fiber, wherein the illumination fiber is a multi-mode optic fiber; a collection fiber, wherein the collection fiber is a multi-mode optic fiber; a ball lens that couples the illumination fiber and collection fiber; and a protective overtube that houses the illumination fiber, the collection fiber, and the ball lens, wherein the arrangement of the illumination fiber, the collection fiber, and the ball lens facilitates a constant penetration depth and are arranged based on an optimization of a first diameter of an illumination spot, a second diameter of a collection spot, a separation distance between the illumination spot and the collection spot, and an angle between an illumination beam and a collection beam, wherein the optimization maximizes an overlap between an illumination area of the illumination fiber and a collection area of the collection fiber. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of fabricating a depth-selective probe, comprising:
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selecting at least two multi-mode fibers based at least in part on one or more properties of the at least two multi-mode fibers, wherein the at least two multi-mode fibers comprise an illumination fiber and a collection fiber; selecting a high-index ball lens; and arranging the high-index ball lens and the at least two multi-mode fibers within a protective overtube, wherein the high-index ball lens couples the at least two multi-mode fibers, the arranging comprising; optimizing a distance between the ball lens and the at least two multi-mode fibers; optimizing the distance between the at least two multi-mode fibers; and optimizing a signal to noise ratio of the depth-selective probe;
wherein the optimizations include;minimizing a spot size of the illumination fiber; minimizing specular reflection; maximizing an overlap between an illumination area of the illumination fiber and a collection area of the collection fiber; and maximizing a collection angle with respect to an illumination beam. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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Specification