SignificanceUltrasonic transducers facilitate noninvasive biomedical imaging and therapeutic applications. Optoacoustic generation using nanoplasmonic structures provides a technical solution for highly efficient broadband ultrasonic transducer. However, bulky and high-cost nanosecond lasers as conventional excitation sources hinder a compact configuration of transducer.AimHere, we report a plasmon-enhanced optoacoustic transducer (PEAT) for broadband ultrasound generation, featuring an overdriven pulsed laser diode (LD) and an Ecoflex thin film. The PEAT module consists of an LD, a collimating lens, a focusing lens, and an Ecoflex-coated 3D nanoplasmonic substrate (NPS).ApproachThe LD is overdriven above its nominal current and precisely modulated to achieve nanosecond pulsed beam with high optical peak power. The focused laser beam is injected on the NPS with high-density electromagnetic hotspots, which allows for the efficient plasmonic photothermal effect. The thermal expansion of Ecoflex finally generates broadband ultrasound.ResultsThe overdriven pulsed LD achieves a maximum optical peak power of 40 W, exceeding the average optical power of 3 W. The 22 μm thick Ecoflex-coated NPS exhibits an eightfold optoacoustic enhancement with a fractional −6 dB bandwidth higher than 160% and a peak frequency of 2.5 MHz. In addition, the optoacoustic amplitude is precisely controlled by the optical peak power or the laser pulse width. The PEAT-integrated microfluidic chip clearly demonstrates acoustic atomization by generating aerosol droplets at the air–liquid interface.ConclusionsPlasmon-enhanced optoacoustic generation using PEAT can provide an approach for compact and on-demand biomedical applications, such as ultrasound imaging and lab-on-a-chip technologies.
This paper reports a plasmon-induced photoacoustic transducer for non-invasive skin tightening using a laser diode and an ultrathin nanoplasmonic optical absorber. The nanoplasmonic absorber consists of three-dimensional Au nanoislands (Au NIs) with high optical absorption and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) thin film with high thermal expansion coefficient. The low-cost and compact laser diode (LD) significantly scales down the conventional photoacoustic system based on bulk solid-state lasers and excites the nanoplasmonic absorber with sufficient optical energy to generate MHz-scale ultrasound. This plasmon-induced photoacoustic transducer opens new opportunities for ultrasound in dermatology, extending its application to portable at-home skin-care device.
Various compact spectrometer configurations have been proposed to reduce size. But due to the mismatch between the size and the focusing, optical aberration and poor spectral resolution occur. This work reports an aberration correction lens with a transmission grating (ACLG) based compact spectrometer that improves spectral resolution. It is packaged with an assembly of top, bottom parts, and middle ACLG parts, the overall thickness of the spectrometer is 10mm and has an average resolution of 2nm over a wide range of 500 to 1000nm. This compact spectrometer with high performance can serve as a core device of handheld or portable analysis equipment.
This paper reports a nanoplasmonic isothermal PCR assay with CRISPR/Cas for real-time SARS-CoV-2 detection. The study utilizes a microchip and a miniaturized hand-held type photothermal PCR system, which comprises a nanoplasmonic photothermal heater and microlens array camera to maintain the temperature and detect fluorescence signal from the chip. CRISPR-based fluorescence signal detection, which proceeds simultaneously with nucleic acid amplification, indicates higher sensitivity and rapid detection. The real-time nanoplasmonic isothermal PCR assay opens a new opportunity for POCT-based CRISPR assay.
Biological vision offers intriguing inspiration for functional features in imaging systems with small form factors. We report biologically inspired intraoral camera (BIOC) for assorted dental imaging. This fully packaged BIOC features a convex-concave lens, inverted microlens arrays (iMLAs), LED module, and a single CMOS image sensor on a flexible printed circuit board in a handpiece holder. The iMLAs also collect light from wide angles by mounting the convex-concave lens to increase the viewing angle. The clinical trials have been successfully conducted for real-time and multifunctional intraoral monitoring of human teeth, including infinite depth of field, close-up, wide field-of-view, three-dimensional, and autofluorescence imaging. This biomedical camera provides insights for functional imaging not only in dental applications but also in surgical robots and endoscopy applications.
Handheld spectrometers have been reduced in size due to advanced microfabrication processes, but have significantly poor spectral resolution compared to conventional spectrometers. Here we report compact and ultrathin spectrometer that improves optical performances in visible region. Designed spectrometer improves low spectral resolution and high optical sensitivity through the back-reflection grating structure. Spectrometer is fabricated with the ultrathin structure with the overall thickness of 6 mm. With these simple internal optical elements, this compact and ultrathin spectrometer can be utilized in non-invasive biomonitoring sensor.
The Tabanidae has a unique eye structure that structural color filter in cornea display advantages for color vision system. The combination of color filter layers and ommatidia can provide the advantages of miniaturization, and multispectral imaging. We report an ultrathin multi-spectral camera inspired by the structure of Tabanidae vision system. The ultrathin multi-spectral camera consists of Fabry-Perot color filter arrays, microlens arrays with chrome aperture, and a CMOS image sensor. The fully packaged camera shows a FWHM under 31nm, a total track length of 1mm. This provides new opportunity for point-of-care testing (POCT) and medical applications.
Focused light field cameras utilize microlens arrays (MLAs) as an imaging system to obtain spatial and angular information. MLAs are efficiently fabricated by thermal reflow whereas MLAs formed by thermal reflow have relatively small f-numbers, resulting in small depth-of-field. Here we report a focused light field camera with large f-number by incorporation solid immersion MLAs. Solid immersion using PDMS spin coating over conventional MLAs facilitates large-area fabrication of large f-number MLAs using refractive index differences. Solid immersion MLAs extend depth-of-field several times. This method can broaden focused light field camera application range.
This paper reports a miniaturized spectrometer with enhanced spectral resolution using electrothermal MEMS grating. The MEMS (Micro-electromechanical systems) grating is fabricated on SOI (Silicon on Insulator) wafer and consists of Aluminum/Silicon bimorph, reflective diffraction grating, entrance and exit slit. The MEMS grating scans and single pixel photodiode detects the diffracted spectral signal. The electrothermal actuation and higly dispersive optics of the MEMS grating provides large stroke with low operation voltage to widen the spectral range, and facilitates enhaced spectral resolution in small volume, respectively. This miniaturized spectrometer will deliver diverse application in various fields by providing accurate on-filed molecular analysis.
High-speed imaging provides an opportunity to access detailed information in various biomedical fields. However, conventional high-speed cameras still suffer from slow framerates or difficulty to resolve dense information. This study presents a compact ultrafast camera by combining a compound eye camera inspired by the nature insect with an offset array. OFAC is packaged within 10.4 × 8.3 × 1.5 mm3 excluding image sensor boards, and successfully resolves high-temporal image sequences up to 91,200 framerate. The proposed ultrafast compound eye camera will provide new methods to approach miniaturized high-speed biomedical imaging.
This work reports the first demonstration of plasmonic hyperspectral camera by using an active plasmonic tunable filter (APTF) consisting of ultrathin angle-sensitive nanostructures and compact bimorph actuator. APTF clearly exhibits continuous peak shifting from 800 nm to 1000 nm depending on voltages with 1.0 - 3.0 V. Then, fully packaged with compact B/W camera which accomplished the compact plasmonic hyperspectral camera (PHC) with total size of 16 x 16 x 28 mm. Finally, hyperspectral imaging was demonstrated using the PHC so that the featured spectrum of fruits and hand vein was successfully reconstructed.
We report an objective-lens-free endomicroscopic catheter for compact Lissajous scanned confocal endomicroscopic system using a scanning lensed-fiber. The fiber scanner comprises a single-mode fiber (SMF) spliced with a coreless silica fiber segment and quadrupole piezoelectric tube. An objective lens was directly formed at the distal end of an SMF using a fusion splicer. The lensed fiber eliminates the need for conventional beam focusing elements such as a gradient index rod lens and precise optical alignment, allowing low cost and facile fabrication of an exceptionally short endomicroscopic catheter. The endomicroscopic scanner was fully packaged within a stainless tube of 2.6 mm in outer diameter and 20 mm in length, which can be easily inserted through the working channel of conventional laparoscope or colonoscope. The microscopic images of a stained kidney section and ear of a mouse were successfully obtained with the Lissajous scanning confocal endomicroscope. The compact Lissajous scanning lensed fiber can provide a new route for diverse in vivo endomicroscopic applications.
We report a fiber-optic plasmonic probe with nanogap-rich gold nanoislands for on-site surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). The plasmonic probe features nanogap-rich Au nanoislands on the top surface of a single multimode fiber. Au nanoislands were monolithically fabricated using repeated solid-state dewetting of thermally evaporated Au thin film. The plasmonic probe shows 7.8 × 106 in SERS enhancement factor and 100 nM in limit-of-detection for crystal violet under both the excitation of laser light and the collection of SERS signals through the optical fiber. The fiber-through measurement also demonstrates the label-free SERS detection of folic acid at micromolar level. The plasmonic probe can provide a tool for on-site and in vivo SERS applications.
Eyes of insects in the nature have been evolved in assorted structures according to the place of residence, hours of living, or the way of perception. The structure of the insect eye not only has different composition that dissolve the incoming light according to its direction of origin, i.e., an apposition and a superposition eyes, but also has a wide field-of-view (FOV), a high spatial resolution, and a sensitivity. Conventional artificial compound eye cameras have limited features that only focus on one of the characteristics of the insect eye, such as lens diameter and lens barrel length. We report an optically adjustable ultrathin arrayed camera, which adjusts the FOV, lens diameter and focal length independently. The ultrathin arrayed camera consists of UV-curable resin based microlens array on CMOS image sensor and each lens is surrounded by a liquid-filled blocking layer to reduce optical cross-talks between neighboring lenses. Fabrication of the arrayed lens includes photolithography process of Au/Cr metal pattern on frontside and Cr pattern on backside of borosilicate glass. Each of the lenses are replicated from microhole arrays fabricated by isotropic wet etching of the borosilicate glass with HF (49%) etchant. The arrayed camera has adjustable lens diameter and curvature by etching time control and SU-8 post thickness control during photolithography. Fingerprint image was successfully obtained by an image processing from individual optical channels. This ultrathin arrayed camera will suggest a new approach to the development of light-filled camera and compact ultrathin camera in the medical, industrial, or military fields.
Perforated periodic nanostructures (i.e. nanohole arrays) have become of great alternatives for transmissive structural coloration due to high transmission efficiency and high sensitivity upon incident angles. However, structural colors of conventional periodic nanostructures inevitably exhibit a substantial color-crosstalk due to the multiple resonances. Our previous work (M.-S. Ahn et al., nanoscale) had already reported that the complementary plasmonic structures (CPS) effectively attenuate the high-order resonances, and thus improve color-purity in the range from VIS (red) to NIR.
In this work, we successfully demonstrated transmissive structural coloration with high color-purity in fully visible ranges by using inverted CPS (iCPS) of aluminum (Al) nanoholes and nanodisks. Unlike previous Ag CPS, the Al iCPS features inverted configuration of suspended nanoholes and buried nanodisks by high refractive index (polyurethane acrylate; PUA) substrate, which blue-shifts the resonances of Al nanoholes and redshifts the extinction dip of Al nanodisks. As a result, carefully engineered extinction dip effectively suppresses the first-order resonance of Al nanoholes, and thus iCPS exhibit a pure visible-coloration with a single resonance, depending on the incident angles.
iCPS were nanofabricated by UV nanoimprinting lithography (UV-NIL) and thermal evaporation of aluminum, which enables uniform nanopattering with inch scale. Polyurethane acrylate (PUA) was used for a substrate due to its high refractive index and UV-curable property. After the replication of nanohole patterns into PUA, aluminum was evaporated on PUA nanohole substrate. Then the Al nanoholes are formed on top surface of PUA and Al nanodisks are buried in PUA nanohole. Structural coloration of iCPS provides a new direction for a tunable optical filter that highly requires tunability and selectivity.
Three-dimensional (3D) endoscopes provide depth information and help determining the surgical sites more accurately. Among the conventional 3D endoscopic techniques, efforts on implementation of structured illumination method into 3D imaging system was actively made due to the potential of light environmental robustness and miniaturization. However, structured illumination methods are suffering from the low resolution, which is affected by the light patterns density and uniformity with minimized projector.
In this work, we demonstrate switchable pattern projector module using rotational offsets of double microlens arrays (MLAs) for 3D endoscopic imaging with structured illumination method. The pattern projector module includes diffractive optical element part of double MLAs with rotational offsets for double diffraction pattern generation and the switchable light source part of fiber bundle comprised of the GRIN fiber for collimating laser at the center and other surrounding fibers for white-light illumination. The double MLAs was fabricated using double-sided photolithography on 4-inch borosilicate wafer, thermal reflow with hydrophobic nano film, and parylene-c coating. The period, curvature and rotational offset angle of double MLAs were determined to have high density and uniformity of the projected dot array patterns. The calculated disparity map of non-textured 3D object showed increase on resolution and robustness on surrounding light environment compared to the disparity map with stereoscopic imaging method. The 3D imaging system using the projector module can provide depth information with miniaturized system and lead to various applications for medical imaging as well as other imaging applications in industrial and military fields.
KEYWORDS: Imaging systems, Confocal microscopy, Scanners, In vivo imaging, Endomicroscopy, Microscopes, Indocyanine green, Luminescence, Field programmable gate arrays, Active optics
This work presents a fully packaged confocal endomicroscopic system using Lissajous fiber scanner for in-vivo imaging. The confocal endomicroscopic system consists of a scanning probe part, an optical part, and an electrical part. The scanning probe uses resonant Lissajous fiber scanner based on a piezoelectric tube. The scanner successfully achieves 10 frame rate with ~ 1 kHz scanning frequencies. The probe was fully packaged for waterproofing and disinfection of medical instruments into the outer diameter of 3.4 mm. The endomicroscopic system and successfully obtained 2D reflectance imaging results, human ex-vivo imaging results and a real-time in-vivo imaging results.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.