SBIR Phase I: Laser-Based Replacement for FTIR Microscopy

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将确定要解决的问题，以建立一个原型量子级联（QC）基于激光的红外显微镜。红外显微镜作为医学诊断工具具有巨大的潜力。目前的显微镜是基于傅里叶变换红外（FTIR）光谱仪和冷却检测器。这些FTIR显微镜的成本和缓慢的速度限制了它们在标准医疗诊所设置中的实用性。新的QC激光技术使紧凑、广泛可调谐的激光光源成为中红外区域（3至12 μ m）的现实，这是一个具有丰富细胞诊断功能的光谱区域。这些激光器的高功率使得可以使用灵敏度较低的室温焦平面阵列（FPA）进行图像采集。研究目标是将宽调谐QC激光器耦合到红外显微镜，然后使用微测辐射热计FPA进行图像采集。本研究将探讨将相干激光耦合到显微镜核心的问题，包括光学机械设计和激光散斑对图像采集的影响。数据采集和激光照明问题将通过初始耦合到微测辐射热计FPA进行测试。该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是，可以开发具有更高功能和更低成本的红外显微镜，以便它们将在世界各地的诊所一级广泛用于医疗诊断。这反过来将使细胞诊断，特别是癌症，更容易获得，以帮助在早期阶段捕获和治疗癌症。通过将室温激光器和FPA耦合到红外显微镜，应该可以减少这些仪器的尺寸，能耗和成本。此外，FTIR显微镜需要冷却的碲镉汞（MCT）FPA进行完整的图像采集，这是由美国国务院出口管制。因此，大多数FTIR显微镜使用有限的线性阵列，这大大降低了它们的图像采集速度，因为需要光栅化。可与QC激光源一起使用的微测辐射热计FPA不受出口控制，因此在广泛可用的商业仪器中可以进行完整图像采集，从而提高采集速度，同时降低成本并消除对低温冷却的需求。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will identify the issues to be solved in order to build a prototype quantum cascade (QC) laser-based infrared microscope. Infrared microscopy holds great potential as a medical diagnostic tool. Present microscopes are based on Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometers and cooled detectors. The cost and slow speed of these FTIR microscopes limits their usefulness in standard medical clinic settings. New QC laser technology makes compact, broadly tunable laser light sources a reality for the mid-infrared region (3 to 12 um), a spectral region rich in features for cellular diagnostics. The high power of these lasers makes it possible to use less sensitive room temperature focal plane arrays (FPAs) for image acquisition. The research objectives are to couple broadly tunable QC lasers to an infrared microscope, and then use a microbolometer FPA for image acquisition. The research will explore the issues of coupling coherent laser light into a microscope core, including optomechanical design and the effects of laser speckle on image acquisition. Data acquisition and laser illumination issues will be tested with initial coupling into a microbolometer FPA. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is that infrared microscopes with increased capabilities and reduced cost can be developed, such that they will become widely available for medical diagnostics at the clinic level around the world. This in turn would make cellular diagnostics, particularly for cancer, more readily available to aid in catching and treating cancers at an earlier stage. By coupling room temperature lasers and FPAs to infrared microscopes, it should be possible to reduce the size, energy consumption, and cost of these instruments. In addition, FTIR microscopes require cooled mercury-cadmium-telluride (MCT) FPAs for full image acquisition, which are export controlled by the U.S. Department of State. Therefore, most FTIR microscopes use limited linear arrays, which greatly reduce their speed of image acquisition since rastering is required. The microbolometer FPAs that can be used with QC laser sources are not export controlled, so full image acquisition will be possible in a broadly available commercial instrument, increasing the speed of acquisition while reducing cost and removing the need for cryogenic cooling.