Fiber-optic confocal reflectance microscope with miniature objective for in vivo imaging of human tissues

Author

Sung, Kung-Bin ; Liang, Chen ; Descour, Michael ; Collier, Tom ; Follen, Michele ; Richards-Kortum, Rebecca

Author_Institution

Dept. of Biomed. Eng., Texas Univ., Austin, TX, USA

Volume

49

Issue

10

fYear

2002

Firstpage

1168

Lastpage

1172

Abstract

We have built a fiber-optic confocal reflectance microscope capable of imaging human tissues in near real time. Miniaturization of the objective lens and the mechanical components for positioning and axially scanning the objective enables the device to be used in inner organs of the human body. The lateral resolution is 2 micrometers and axial resolution is 10 micrometers. Confocal images of fixed tissue biopsies and the human lip in vivo have been obtained at 15 frames/s without any fluorescent stains. Both cell morphology and tissue architecture can be appreciated from images obtained with this microscope.

Keywords

biological tissues; cellular biophysics; fluorescence; image resolution; laser applications in medicine; optical fibres; optical microscopes; 10 micron; 2 micron; cell morphology; confocal images; fiber-optic confocal reflectance microscope; fixed tissue biopsies; fluorescent stains; human body inner organs; human lip; human tissues; in vivo imaging; laser reflectance; lateral resolution; medical instrumentation; miniature objective; tissue architecture; Biomedical optical imaging; Fluorescence; Humans; In vivo; Lenses; Microscopy; Optical fiber devices; Optical fibers; Optical imaging; Reflectivity; Biopsy; Cervix Uteri; Equipment Design; Female; Fiber Optics; Humans; Lenses; Lip; Microscopy, Confocal; Microscopy, Interference; Microspheres; Miniaturization; Polystyrenes; Sensitivity and Specificity; Time Factors;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Biomedical Engineering, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9294

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TBME.2002.803524

Filename

1035966