We report on the progress of our efforts to apply silicon nitride photonic integrated circuits (PIC) to the miniaturization of optical coherence tomography (OCT) with the goal of facilitating its widespread use in ophthalmology at the point of care. In particular, we highlight the design and optical characterization of photonic building blocks allowing the realization of a silicon nitride PIC-based multi-channel swept-source OCT system in the 1060 nm wavelength region. Apart from waveguide structures, these building blocks include 3D-printed microlenses on the PIC end facets for efficient light coupling to and from the PIC.
The miniaturization of optical coherence tomography (OCT) systems could open up potential new markets, such as point-of-care application, home OCT to regularly monitor disease and treatment progress, and in low-resource settings. Photonic integrated circuits (PIC) are considered an attractive approach to miniaturize OCT. We present our recent achievements in in vivo retinal imaging with a PIC-based Mach-Zehnder interferometer integrated in a state-of-the-art ophthalmic OCT system. The system achieves 94 dB at 750 µW on the sample, running at 50 kHz. Preliminary results of a fully packaged 4-channel opto-electronic OCT engine further demonstrate the potential of PIC-based OCT.
We report on a swept-source OCT system based on a photonic-electronic integrated circuit. It enables a parallelization of data acquisition resulting in an effective A-scan rate of 4x100 kHz at a central wavelength of 840 nm.
The monolithic co-integration of photonic elements forming the multiplexed interferometers and the system electronics on one chip allows a very compact OCT engine in a photonic package. Integrated in an ophthalmic system, the maximum sensitivity was estimated to be 91 dB with an optical power of 4x520 µW at the model eye. An eye phantom was imaged at 400 kHz showing its layered structure.
Silicon nitride waveguide based photonic integrated circuits (PICs) are intensively investigated for a wide range of sensing applications in the visible to sub 1-µm near-infrared spectral region. The monolithic co-integration of silicon photodiodes and read-out electronics offers additional benefits in terms of performance and miniaturization. We discuss challenging aspects related to the efficient coupling and routing of light to, from, and within PICs and present interfacing photonic building blocks offering potential solutions. We demonstrate the suitability of these interfacing building blocks by using them for the realization of a PIC-based multi-channel optical coherence tomography concept at 840 nm.
Artificial test eyes have been developed for a multimodal ophthalmic imaging platform. The test eyes can be used for alignment of different imaging modalities and for fluorescence channel performance testing. Different scattering and absorption characteristics can be realized in the artificial retina.
A swept source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) system with the interferometer engine being a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) has been developed. Furthermore, an Arrayed Waveguide Grating (AWG), representing a grating on a PIC, for spectral domain OCT (SD-OCT) has been integrated in a fiber-based OCT system. With measured sensitivities of ~87 dB (SS-OCT) and ~80 dB (SD-OCT), scattering tissue imaging becomes feasible for OCT-on-chip systems. In this study, we present two OCT-on-chip systems and first results of biological tissue imaging in-vivo and exvivo.
We report on a concept of a benchtop microscope for routine applications. This concept system transfers key features of a high-end laser scanning microscope to a dedicated confocal fluorescence imaging system with appropriate footprint and reduced systems complexity. The optical beam path is specifically designed for the purposes of confocal imaging leading to a short beam path length that fulfills the footprint requirements. The system allows an optical 3D scanning through the sample of up to 100 depths of focus without moving the sample. The scanning unit consists of a 2D MEMS scanning mirror spanning and a deformable mirror forming 3 virtual scanning axes. For a compact integration of the detection beam path, a confocal detector with an actuated MEMS pinhole was developed to adjust the optical sectioning. The selected light sources are directly modulated lasers operating at wavelengths that are frequently used for fluorescence imaging in life science applications. To provide a simple interface to almost any user’s hardware such as laptops or tablets, the systems architecture for real time control and data acquisition is based on a FPGA.
The diffraction limit in traditional fluorescence microscopy (approximately 200 and 600 nanometers in lateral and axial
directions, respectively) has restricted the applications in
bio-medical research. However, over the last 10 years various
techniques have emerged to overcome this limit. Each of these techniques has its own characteristics that influence its
application in biology. This paper will show how two of the techniques, Structured Illumination Microscopy (SIM) and
PhotoActivated Localization Microscopy (PALM), complement each other in imaging of biological samples beyond the
resolution of classical widefield fluorescence microscopy. As a reference the properties of two well known standard
imaging techniques in this field, confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (LSM) and Total Internal Reflection (TIRF)
microscopy, are compared to the properties of the two high resolution techniques.
Combined SIM/PALM imaging allows the extremely accurate localization of individual molecules within the context of
various fluorescent structures already resolved in 3D with a resolution of up to 100nm using SIM. Such a combined
system provides the biologist with an unprecedented view of the
sub-cellular organization of life.
We demonstrated that the dispersion of scanning microscope optics (including a Zeiss 40x/1.2 Apochromat objective)
can be compensated by means of chirped mirrors over a bandwidth of 170 nm at 800 nm. The interferometric
autocorrelation trace recorded at the focus of the microscope objective with a two-photon diode indicated a pulse
duration of < 12 fs. The propagation time difference of the system can be minimized by proper choice of the
components, enabling sub-12-fs pulse delivery with a completely filled 40x/0.8 Zeiss Achroplan water immersion
objective.
Research in the life sciences increasingly involves the investigation of fast dynamic processes at the cellular and subcellular level. It requires tools to image complex systems with high temporal resolution in three-dimensional space. For this task, we introduce the concept of a fast fluorescence line scanner providing image acquisition speeds in excess of 100 frames per second at 512×512 pixels. Because the system preserves the capability for optical sectioning of confocal systems, it allows us to observe processes with three-dimensional resolution. We describe the principle of operation, the optical characteristics of the microscope, and cover several applications in particular from the field of cell and developmental biology. A commercial system based on the line scanning concept has been realized by Carl Zeiss (LSM 5 LIVE).
Research in the Life Sciences increasingly involves the investigation of fast dynamic processes at the cellular and sub-cellular level. It requires tools to image complex systems with high temporal resolution in three-dimensional space. For this task we introduce a fast fluorescence line scanner with image acquisition speeds in excess of 100 frames per second at 512x512 pixels and with a more than 10- fold increased sensitivity compared to point scanning confocal systems. Since the system preserves the capability for optical sectioning of confocal systems it allows to observe processes in three dimensions. We describe the principle of operation, the optical characteristics of the microscope and cover several applications in particular from the field of developmental biology.
If laser scanning microscopy with enhanced spatial or temporal resolution is performed on sensible biological samples it is essential to prevent damage or substantial alteration of the object due to intense laser illumination. Considering a simplified model for temperature rise and photochemical reactions conclusions concerning scanning and measuring conditions are drawn. A method for improving the spatial resolution of the laser scanning microscope by image processing is described. This method is based on a local deconvolution procedure and yields an improvement of the resolution of about 1. 7 in a discussed example. It is applied to images of chromosomes. For time-resolved fluorescence microscopy on the basis of time-correlated single photon counting methods for obtaining images of fluorescence decay parameters under the condition of weak fluorescence intensity are discussed. As an example intensity and relaxation time images of a tumour cell incubated with HpD are presented. 1.
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