Klaus Hartkorn

Alternative optical design for optical coherence tomography probes

Many fiber based probes used in Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) are comprised of a spacer, GRadient INdex (GRIN) lens, and a microprism. This design has the benefit of being relatively simple given the need for only three optical components. However, because of constraints to optical performance specifications, such as the probe working distance and spot size, the spacer and GRIN lens will have demanding and difficult tolerances for component length. These tolerances are a detriment to high volume manufacturing. In this paper we present an alternative monolithic, single component design form which is more robust and eliminates the manufacturing constraints of the present design form, thereby making it ideally suited for high volume manufacturing.