Study on potential of structured illumination microscopy utilizing digital micromirror device for endoscopy purpose

Structured illumination microscopy is a new technique which delivers optical sectioning capability. As a widefield microscopy technique, structured illumination has improved imaging rate over scanning type optical sectioning microscope as it only require 3 image frames for sectioned images. It also has an advantage in that it gives better contrast compared to the established confocal microscope. As part of the effort to develop an endoscopy system, a study is done to examine the feasibility of the structured illumination for endoscopy purpose. Fringe pattern is generated from the TI-DMD digital micromirror and projected onto the specimen (Allium cepa, onion) via 10times/0.25NA lens. The advantage of this fringe system is that it allows for adjustable sectioning strength which allows it to be adaptable for different biological specimen. This study show appreciable sectioning capabilities and fast imaging rate for structured illumination microscopy which affirmed the feasibility for endoscopic development. Potential difficulties that needed to be overcome for future study is also put forth.