MEMS-based endoscopic optical coherence tomography

Abstract

Early cancer detection has been playing an important role in reducing cancer mortality. Optical coherence tomography (OCT), due to its micron-scale resolution, has the ability to detect cancerous tissues at their early stages. For internal organs, endoscopic probes are needed as the penetration depth of OCT is about 1-3 mm. MEMS technology has the advantages of fast speed, small size, and low cost, and it has been widely used as the scanning engine in endoscopic OCT probes. Research results have shown great potential for OCT in endoscopic imaging by incorporating MEMS scanning mirrors. Various MEMS-OCT designs are introduced, and their imaging results are reviewed in the paper.

MEMS Laser Scanners: A Review

“…The performance requirements on MEMS scanners for imaging applications typically are much lower in terms of frequency and scan angle compared to those of in the display field and the challenges are more related to packaging. Good summaries of these scanners can be found in [134] and [135]. The main challenges for MEMS scanners developed for endoscopic imaging applications are compact package size requirement (preferably <10 mm 3 ), poor image quality (due to aberrations from scanning mirror and objective lens), and stability.…”