ENDOSCOPIC PROBE, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY AND CONFOCAL ENDOSCOPY

摘要

An endoscopic probe according to the invention for optical coherence tomography and confocal endoscopy comprises a light guide for transmitting a first illumination radiation for coherence tomography, which comprises a first wavelength range, and a second illumination radiation for confocal endoscopy, which comprises a second wavelength range, from a proximal to a second wavelength range distal end surface (25) of the light guide, and a lens (17) for relaying the first and second illumination radiation from the distal end surface (25) of the light guide to an object region to be observed, and for relaying observation radiation emanating from the object region to the distal end surface (25 ) of the light guide. The objective (17) comprises a wavelength-dependent aperture (27) which has a smaller aperture in the first wavelength range than in the second wavelength range. The optical fiber is further configured to pass the coupled observation radiation to the proximal end surface (14) and as a single optical fiber, and the distal end surface (25) of the optical fiber is movable transversely to the optical axis (29) of the objective (17). The invention also relates to a system and method for combined optical coherence tomography and confocal endoscopy.