Small Animal Fourier Domain OCT Microscope

描述（由申请人提供）： 该第一阶段小企业创新研究（SB 1 R）申请建议将光学相干断层扫描（OCT）成像技术的巨大进步纳入基于显微镜的原型中，用于小动物成像。这种OCT显微镜有可能成为宝贵的快速表型，在显微解剖的三维表征，并在微生理学的量化。这台仪器将极大的兴趣，科学家谁研究斑马鱼，爪蟾，鸡胚，果蝇，和其他类似大小的动物。这些创新建立在傅里叶域OCT（FD-OCT）的最新工作基础上，FD-OCT是OCT数据收集的一种替代方法，它利用并行阵列检测技术代替传统使用的单个传感器。然而，所提出的方法通过引入特定的设计创新而远远超出了傅里叶域OCT的当前技术水平，所述设计创新优化了系统灵敏度（定义为理想反射样本的信噪比，并且可以针对采集速率进行权衡）和鲁棒性（定义为系统可制造性和耐久性），与在这两个领域中表现出严重限制的当前设计形成对比。由此产生的频域光学相干断层扫描系统将耦合到一个标准的立体变焦显微镜，同时常规和断层成像能力。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SB1R) application proposes to incorporate dramatic advances in optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging technology into a microscope-based prototype for use in small animal imaging. This OCT microscope has the potential to become invaluable in rapid phenotyping, in the three-dimensional characterization of microanatomy, and in the quantification of microphysiology. This instrument will be of great interest to scientists who study zebrafish, Xenopus, chick embryo, fruit fly, and other animals of comparable size. These innovations build upon recent work on Fourier-Domain OCT (FD-OCT), an alternative approach to OCT data collection which takes advantage of parallel array detection technology in place of a single sensor as conventionally used. However, the proposed approach extends well beyond the current state of the art in Fourier-Domain OCT by introducing specific design innovations which optimize system sensitivity (defined as the signal-to-noise ratio for an ideal reflective sample, and which can be traded off for acquisition rate) and robustness (defined as system manufacturability and durability), in contrast to current designs which exhibit severe limitations in both areas. The resulting FD-OCT system will be coupled into a standard stereo zoom microscope for simultaneous conventional and tomographic imaging capability.