Optical imaging apparatus which radiates a low coherence light beam onto a test object, receives optical information from light scattered by the object, and constructs therefrom a cross-sectional image of the object
US6069698A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 27, 1998 |
| Grant date | May 30, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 27, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01B2290/65
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A low coherence beam emitted by a low coherence light source is split into two portions. One portion is transmitted from the outward end of a first single mode fiber via a detachable connector to a beam scanning probe, and then to a biological tissue; and the other is transmitted from an optical coupler placed midway along the light path via a second single mode fiber to a light path modifier. The light path modifier includes a galvanometer mirror to modify the light path length in accordance with a scan range, and a uniaxial stage to adjust the light path length to absorb the variation in lengths of different beam scanning probes. The light path is adjusted by the uniaxial stage such that the beam interference is detected for the scan range, to ensure stable acquisition of tomographic images.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.