Systems and methods for oblique laser scanning

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10337995-B2
Application number	US-201816005246-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 11, 2018
Priority date	Jun 12, 2017
Publication date	Jul 2, 2019
Grant date	Jul 2, 2019

Abstract

A method for constructing a three-dimensional image of a sample includes producing electromagnetic radiation and directing the produced electromagnetic radiation such that it is incident on the sample at an oblique angle. The incident electromagnetic radiation is scanned in discrete increments to a plurality of discrete locations along a first direction, and at each discrete location, scanned along a second direction orthogonal to the first direction. The sample reflects a first portion of the incident electromagnetic radiation and absorbs a second portion of the incident electromagnetic radiation, and emits electromagnetic radiation responsive to the absorption. A plurality of cross-sectional images is produced from the reflected electromagnetic radiation and the emitted electromagnetic radiation, and each cross-sectional image is modified to compensate for the oblique angle. The modified cross-sectional images are then combined to create a three-dimensional image of the sample.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An optical system for producing a three-dimensional image of a sample, the optical system comprising:
one or more electromagnetic radiation sources configured to produce electromagnetic radiation;
a first optical pathway disposed between the one or more electromagnetic radiation sources and the sample, the produced electromagnetic radiation propagating in a first direction along an optical axis of the first optical pathway towards the sample;
a lens disposed in the first optical pathway adjacent to the sample to focus the produced electromagnetic radiation onto the sample, an optical axis of the lens being offset from the optical axis of the first optical pathway such that the produced electromagnetic radiation is incident on the sample at an oblique angle, the sample reflecting a first portion of the incident electromagnetic radiation to produce reflected electromagnetic radiation, the sample absorbing a second portion of the incident electromagnetic radiation and responsive to the absorption of the second portion of the incident electromagnetic radiation, the sample emitting electromagnetic radiation;
a second optical pathway disposed between the sample and a first image capture device, the reflected electromagnetic radiation propagating along the second optical pathway from the sample to the first image capture device, the reflected electromagnetic radiation being indicative of structural properties of the sample; and
a third optical pathway disposed between the sample and a second image capture device, the emitted electromagnetic radiation propagating along the third optical pathway from the sample to the second image capture device, the emitted electromagnetic radiation being indicative of molecular properties of the sample.

2. The optical system of claim 1 , wherein the first portion of the incident electromagnetic radiation reflected by the sample includes electromagnetic radiation in a first wavelength range, and wherein the second portion of the incident electromagnetic radiation absorbed by the sample includes electromagnetic radiation in a second wavelength range.

3. The optical system of claim 2 , wherein the first wavelength range is different from the second wavelength range.

4. The optical system of claim 1 , further comprising an optical coupling component disposed in the first optical pathway to thereby form an initial stage and a steering stage.

5. The optical system of claim 4 , wherein the initial stage includes one or more prisms to separate the produced electromagnetic radiation into discrete components based on wavelength, and a filter to remove the produced electromagnetic radiation having a wavelength equal to a wavelength of the emitted electromagnetic radiation.

6. The optical system of claim 1 , wherein the second optical pathway includes a first portion and a second portion, the first portion of second optical pathway having an optical axis that is coaxial with the optical axis of the first optical pathway such that the reflected electromagnetic radiation propagates along the first optical pathway in a second opposing direction away from the sample.

7. The optical system of claim 6 , wherein the second portion of the second optical pathway terminates at the first image capture device, and wherein an optical axis of the second portion of the second optical pathway is non-coaxial with the optical axis of the first optical pathway.

8. The optical system of claim 1 , further comprising an optical coupling component disposed in the first optical pathway to thereby form an initial stage, a steering stage, and a reference stage, the produced electromagnetic radiation propagating from the one or more electromagnetic radiation sources to a first port of the optical coupling component, the produced electromagnetic radiation being output at both a second port of the optical coupling component to the reference stage and a third port of the optical coupling component to the steering stage.

9. The optical system of claim 8 , wherein the second optical pathway has a first portion with an optical axis coaxial with an optical axis of the steering stage, and wherein the reflected electromagnetic radiation propagates through the first portion of the second optical pathway to the second port of the optical coupling component.

10. The optical system of claim 9 , wherein the reference stage includes a mirror, and wherein the produced electromagnetic radiation output at the third port of the optical coupling component propagates through the reference stage and is reflected by the mirror back to the third port of the optical coupling component.

11. The optical system of claim 1 , wherein the optical axis of the lens is offset from the optical axis of the first optical pathway by about 4 millimeters, and wherein the oblique angle is about 26 degrees.

12. The optical system of claim 1 , wherein the sample is a retina of an eye, and wherein the lens disposed in the first optical pathway is a lens of the eye.

13. A method of obtaining a three-dimensional image of a sample, the method comprising:
producing electromagnetic radiation from one or more electromagnetic radiation sources;
directing the produced electromagnetic radiation such that the produced electromagnetic radiation propagates through a lens and is incident on the sample at an oblique angle, the sample reflecting a first portion of the incident electromagnetic radiation to produce reflected electromagnetic radiation, the sample absorbing a second portion of the incident electromagnetic radiation and responsive to the absorption of the second portion of the incident electromagnetic radiation, the sample emitting electromagnetic radiation;
scanning the incident electromagnetic radiation across a surface area of the sample;
recording the reflected electromagnetic radiation while scanning the incident electromagnetic radiation across the surface of the sample to produce a first plurality of cross-sectional images of the sample;
recording the emitted electromagnetic radiation while scanning the incident electromagnetic radiation across the surface of the sample to produce a second plurality of cross-sectional images of the sample;
modifying the first and second plurality of cross-sectional images to compensate for the oblique angle of the incident electromagnetic radiation; and
producing a three-dimensional image from the first plurality of modified cross-sectional images and the second plurality of modified cross-sectional images.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the scanning step further comprises:
scanning the incident electromagnetic radiation across a surface of the sample in a first direction, the incident electromagnetic radiation being scanned in discrete increments to a plurality of discrete locations on the surface of the sample;
for each discrete location on the surface of the sample, scanning the incident electromagnetic radiation across the surface of the sample in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the producing step further comprises:
combining each of the first plurality of modified cross-sectional images to create a first three-dimensional image of the sample;
combining each of the second plurality of modified cross-sectional images to create a second three-dimensional image of the sample; and
co-registering the first three-dimensional image of the sample and the second three-dimensional image of the sample to create a third three-dimensional image of the sample.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the sample is a retina of an eye,

Assignees

• Boston Medical Ct Corp

Inventors

• Yi Ji

Classifications

• G01B9/02075

  of particular errors · CPC title

• G02B26/105

  with one or more pivoting mirrors or galvano-mirrors (G02B26/101 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G02B21/0012

  Surgical microscopes (counterbalanced structures for surgical microscopes G02B7/001) · CPC title

• G01N2021/1785

  Three dimensional · CPC title

• G01N21/6402

  Atomic fluorescence; Laser induced fluorescence · CPC title