In the last 2 years, the field of micro-electro-mechanical systems tunable vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers (MEMS-VCSELs) has seen dramatic improvements in laser tuning range and tuning speed, along with expansion into unexplored wavelength bands, enabling new applications. This paper describes the design and performance of high-speed ultra-broad tuning range 1050nm and 1310nm MEMS-VCSELs for medical imaging and spectroscopy. Key results include achievement of the first MEMS-VCSELs at 1050nm and 1310nm, with 100nm tuning demonstrated at 1050nm and 150nm tuning at shown at 1310nm. The latter result represents the widest tuning range of any MEMS-VCSEL at any wavelength. Wide tuning range ...

OCT2013 – the first international symposium hosted by the Center for Biomedical OCT Research and Translation at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, will focus on the latest and greatest technical capabilities of OCT, provide an overview of the commercially available OCT systems, discuss advancements in numerous clinical application areas, and introduce emerging preclinical optical imaging techniques. The unique emphasis of technology and clinical utility presented in the symposium will bring together an interdisciplinary group of expert clinicians, engineers, physicists, biologists, businesspersons, and trainees from around the world to foster the realization of OCT technology and implementation in the clinic ...

Recent advances in swept-source / Fourier domain optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) technology enable in vivo ultrahigh speed imaging, offering a promising technique for four-dimensional (4-D) imaging of the eye. Using an ultrahigh speed tunable vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) light source based SS-OCT prototype system, we performed imaging of human eye dynamics in four different imaging modes: 1) Pupillary reaction to light at 200,000 axial scans per second and 9 μm resolution in tissue. 2) Anterior eye focusing dynamics at 100,000 axial scans per second and 9 μm resolution in tissue. 3) Tear film break up at 50 ...

Measuring retinal hemodynamics in response to flicker stimulus is important for investigating pathophysiology in small animal models of diabetic retinopathy, because a reduction in the hyperemic response is thought to be one of the earliest changes in diabetic retinopathy. In this study, we investigated functional imaging of retinal hemodynamics in response to flicker stimulus in the rat retina using an ultrahigh speed spectral / Fourier domain OCT system at 840nm with an axial scan rate of 244kHz. At 244kHz the nominal axial velocity range that could be measured without phase wrapping was +/-37.7mm/s. Pulsatile total retinal arterial blood flow ...

We developed a micro-motor based miniature catheter with an outer diameter of 3mm for ultrahigh speed endoscopic optical coherence tomography (OCT) using vertical cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) at a 1MHz axial scan rate. The micro-motor can rotate a micro-prism at 1,200-72,000rpm (corresponding to 20- 1,200fps) with less than 5V driving voltage to provide fast and stable scanning, which is not sensitive to the bending of the catheter. The side-viewing probe can be pulled back for a long distance to acquire three-dimensional (3D) dataset covering a large area on the specimen. VCSEL provides high a-line rate to support ...

A critical method of monitoring patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) being treated with anti–vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) is optical coherence tomography (OCT), which uses low-coherence interferometry of light to examine the retina in vivo on a micrometer scale. 1 Recent advances in spectral-domain OCT make visualization of the choroid feasible. Using image averaging and enhanced depth imaging, successful examination and measurement of choroidal thickness in normal and pathologic states have been reported

US-based healthcare and medical device giant St Jude Medical has launched a new system based on optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging that is designed to improve the treatment of coronary artery disease. The “ILUMIEN OPTIS” system, launched in Japan, is said to help physicians make personalized decisions about the placement of the stents that are used to ensure that blood flows freely through a patient’s coronary arteries, based on the individual’s particular anatomy and disease state.

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