Liquid Shaping for Scalable OCT Endoscope Fabrication
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current disposable OCT endoscopes face challenges in scalability, cost-effectiveness, and customization due to complex and time-consuming fabrication methods, which limit their adoption in clinical settings and imaging performance.
Innovation Solution
A liquid shaping-based method and system for fabricating OCT endoscopes with self-assembled freeform optics of sub-nanometer surface roughness, enabling rapid and automated assembly of customizable lenses and mirrors, eliminating the need for high-precision optical alignments and labor-intensive polishing processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional fabrication methods (GRIN lens/fiber or fiber ball lens) are used, then OCT endoscopes can be manufactured, but the processes are time-consuming and complex requiring high-precision optical alignments and well-trained specialists
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex mechanical assembly processes with a direct 3D printing technique that forms the complete lens structure in one step. The additive manufacturing process directly creates the freeform lens geometry without requiring separate components, mechanical alignment procedures, or manual polishing operations, thereby eliminating the need for well-trained specialists and significantly reducing fabrication time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes 3D printing technology to directly manufacture lenses with customized geometric parameters and freeform surfaces. By changing the manufacturing approach from conventional mechanical fabrication to additive manufacturing, the system can achieve complex lens shapes and optimized optical parameters that are difficult or impossible to obtain through traditional methods, while maintaining manufacturing efficiency.
2Adaptability or versatility
If fiber-melted ball lens technique is used, then achromatic OCT endoscopes can be developed, but the fabrication lacks flexibility to customize ball lens parameters for optimal balance between working distance, resolution, and depth of focus
Solution Approach 1:
The 3D printing process enables precise control and customization of lens parameters including curvature radius, thickness distribution, refractive index profiles, and freeform surface geometries. The additive manufacturing technique allows independent adjustment of each parameter to optimize the balance between working distance, resolution, and depth of focus for specific clinical applications, providing fabrication flexibility that conventional techniques cannot achieve.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the lens design into customizable parameters and modular structures that can be independently optimized. The freeform lens design allows segmentation of the optical path and focal zones to achieve multiple functions simultaneously, enabling customization of lens parameters for different imaging depths and resolutions without compromising manufacturing feasibility.
3Manufacturing precision
If angle-polishing procedure is performed on fiber ball lens, then reflective surface can be fabricated, but the process is labor-intensive and challenges achieving desired optical surface roughness
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical angle-polishing process with a direct 3D printing method that forms the reflective surface geometry directly during manufacturing. The additive manufacturing process creates the precise freeform reflective surface without requiring subsequent mechanical polishing or grinding operations, thereby achieving desired optical surface roughness while reducing fabrication process complexity and eliminating labor-intensive steps.
4Adaptability or versatility
If two-photon 3D printing is used to create freeform side-deflecting optics, then customized OCT endoscopes can be developed, but the technique is costly and lacks scalability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs 3D printing technology to create precise copies of customized lens designs that can be replicated efficiently. The additive manufacturing process allows for the production of multiple identical freeform optics with consistent quality, enabling scalability and mass production. This copying approach maintains the customization benefits while achieving the productivity required for clinical deployment and widespread adoption.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The method allows for the production of high-performance, cost-effective OCT endoscopes with improved imaging resolution and flexibility, suitable for mass production, and minimizes invasiveness, as demonstrated by successful imaging in rat esophagus, mouse aorta, and brain, while reducing fabrication time and expertise requirements.
Implementation Method 1
By regulating the minimum energy state of curable optical liquid on a substrate surface with tailored wetting properties
Implementation Method 2
controlling the droplet's volume and its physical boundary on the substrate
Implementation Method 3
curable optical liquid on a substrate surface... forming a liquid polymer lens... polymerizing the liquid polymer
Data Source
AI summary
Endoscopic optical coherence tomography (OCT) provides diagnostic images of internal organs and guides interventions in real-time. A liquid shaping method and system are provided for the rapid and scalable fabrication of high-performance OCT endoscopes working at various wavelength ranges. The method and systems enable the flexible customization of freeform lenses with sub-nanometer optical surface roughness by regulating the minimum energy state of curable optical liquid on a wettability-modified substrate and precisely controlling the liquid volume and physical boundary on a substrate. As a result, multiple endoscopes, for example, 800-nm OCT endoscopes with a diameter of approximately 0.6 mm including both rigid and flexible endoscopes, can be simultaneously fabricated. The liquid shaping method and systems offer new approaches for mass production of cost-effective and high-performance OCT endoscopes.