PFI-TT: Metasurface-Optical Fiber Endoscopy Probe for Advanced Imaging

PFI-TT：用于高级成像的超表面光纤内窥镜探头

• 批准号: 2345825
• 负责人: Ho Wai Howard Lee
• 金额: $ 55万
• 依托单位: University of California-Irvine
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-02-01 至 2026-01-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2345825&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: PFI; TT; Metasurface; Optical; Fiber

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project stems from the drastic reduction in size of an endoscope’s active imaging component to less than 200 microns: the size of a single human hair. Most current endoscope designs are larger than their target body region and must be forced through a narrow passage before imaging begins. The small footprint of the proposed Meta-Optical Fiber Endoscope (MOFE) device allows significantly less invasive treatment, reducing the likelihood of complications and the need for anesthesia during the procedure. The MOFE platform also targets other untapped biomedical imaging markets, such as cardiac, deep brain, and simultaneous multi-functional imaging. Additionally, these all-on-fiber structures offer greater potential for large scale and low-cost fabrication than current designs. Rather than requiring the assembly of many individual components, a complete MOFE probe can be realized in a single standard nanofabrication process, representing a substantial reduction in cost per device. The method employed to produce these probes can also be performed on a planarized fiber bundle, allowing hundreds or thousands of devices to be made in parallel. The proposed project will produce Meta-Optical Fiber Endoscope devices. By using flat optical metasurfaces, i.e. artificial sheet materials with sub-wavelength thickness, no wider than the fiber tip itself, it is possible to replace bulky glass optical imaging components (lenses, mirrors, prisms, etc.) with a device aspect ratio defined by the ultra-thin fiber components. This project will represent the first unification of optical metasurfaces—fabricated directly on-fiber—with other advanced imaging techniques, such as wavefront shaping in multimode fiber, optical coherence tomography, and multifunctional brain imaging, including beta testing of these novel devices. The titanium dioxide nanocylinder metasurfaces used in this project are highly efficient, i.e. over 90% transmission in the visible range, and able to tune the transmitted phase to have full wavefront control. The current prototype will include lensing to a controllable focal length, tunable beam steering, polarization insensitive functionality, and even multifunctionality combining any of the above simultaneously by integrating electrically tunable materials. This project will mark the first integration of high-index visible metasurfaces directly on the fiber endface. The metasurface’s tunability will lead to large field of view imaging, which is not available in existing endoscopy without bulky mechanical scanners.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该创新技术转化伙伴关系（PFI-TT）项目的广泛影响/商业潜力源于内窥镜主动成像组件的尺寸大幅缩小至200微米以下：一根头发的大小。目前大多数内窥镜设计都比目标身体区域大，在成像开始前必须通过狭窄的通道。所提出的超光纤内窥镜（MOFE）设备占地面积小，可以显著减少侵入性治疗，减少并发症的可能性和手术过程中麻醉的需要。MOFE平台还瞄准了其他未开发的生物医学成像市场，如心脏、深部脑和同时多功能成像。此外，与目前的设计相比，这些全光纤结构在大规模和低成本制造方面具有更大的潜力。一个完整的MOFE探针可以在一个单一的标准纳米加工过程中实现，而不需要组装许多单独的组件，这意味着每个设备的成本大幅降低。用于生产这些探针的方法也可以在平面化的光纤束上进行，允许数百或数千个设备并行制造。拟议的项目将生产超光纤内窥镜设备。通过使用平面光学超表面，即具有亚波长厚度的人造薄片材料，其宽度不超过光纤尖端本身，可以用超薄光纤组件定义的器件长宽比取代笨重的玻璃光学成像组件（透镜、反射镜、棱镜等）。该项目将代表光学超表面（直接在光纤上制造）与其他先进成像技术的首次统一，如多模光纤中的波前整形、光学相干断层扫描和多功能脑成像，包括这些新设备的beta测试。本项目使用的二氧化钛纳米圆柱形超表面具有很高的效率，即在可见光范围内透射率超过90%，并且可以调整透射相位以实现全波前控制。目前的原型将包括可控制焦距的透镜，可调谐的光束转向，偏振不敏感功能，甚至通过集成电可调谐材料同时结合上述任何功能。该项目将首次将高折射率可见超表面直接集成到光纤端面上。超表面的可调性将导致大视场成像，这在现有的内窥镜中没有笨重的机械扫描仪是无法实现的。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。