Microscope lens with integrated wide-field camera and beam scanning device
Inventors
Dickensheets, David • Rajadhyaksha, Milind
Assignees
Montana State University Bozeman • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Publication Number
US-12072481-B2
Publication Date
2024-08-27
Expiration Date
2037-02-11
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Abstract
A device for viewing a target, the device including a housing, an objective lens positioned within the housing, where the objective lens has a first lens group including at least a first lens and a second lens group including at least a second lens, the first lens positioned closer to the target than the second lens, and a camera positioned within the objective lens between the first lens and the second lens, where the camera is configured to provide images of the target located near a focal point of the objective lens, and wherein the arrangement of the first lens, the second lens, and the camera provides for simultaneous capture of a first image of a surface of the target and a second image of a sub-surface cellular structure of the target.
Core Innovation
The invention provides a device for viewing a target, such as skin or tissue, by integrating a miniature wide-field camera directly into a high numerical aperture (NA) objective lens. This design allows for concurrent wide-field surface imaging and high-resolution sub-surface microscopic imaging, solving the problem of needing two separate devices—one for wide-field dermoscopy and another for reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM). The camera is positioned within the objective lens, specifically in the gap between a first lens group located near the target and a second lens group located further away, enabling simultaneous image capture of gross morphology and cellular detail.
The device overcomes the challenges of previous approaches, where accurate and repeatable co-registration of the RCM field of view within the context of the larger wide-field image was limited, leading to variability and uncertainty in diagnostics. By integrating the wide-field camera into the objective lens, the invention eliminates the need for separate guides or subjective registration methods. The camera uses a central obscuration design, allowing the outer portion of the lens to facilitate high NA microscopy and the central portion to enable low NA, wide-field imaging, without degrading optical sectioning performance.
Additionally, the invention includes the integration of a beam scanner and/or focusing device within the lens, enabling agile three-dimensional scanning throughout the tissue sample. This allows for en face, oblique, or vertical cross-sectional imaging using modalities such as reflectance confocal microscopy, two-photon microscopy, or optical coherence tomography. The design provides a compact, handheld device or endoscopic instrument capable of non-invasive, simultaneous wide-field and microscopic tissue evaluation, which is particularly suited for clinical diagnosis and guidance in dermatology and other medical fields.
Claims Coverage
The patent contains one independent claim which introduces several inventive features focused on integrating wide-field and microscopic imaging into a single optical device.
Integrated camera within objective lens for simultaneous wide-field and microscopic imaging
The device includes an objective lens with a first lens group and a second lens group. A camera is positioned within the objective lens, between these lens groups. This arrangement allows the camera to provide images of the target near a focal point of the objective lens, enabling simultaneous capture of a high numerical aperture microscopic image and a low numerical aperture wide-field image.
The inventive features establish a device that integrates a camera within an objective lens assembly to enable concurrent imaging of both surface morphology and sub-surface cellular structures, combining high-resolution microscopic and wide-field imaging capabilities in a single compact system.
Stated Advantages
Provides simultaneous wide-field imaging and microscopic imaging in a single device, enabling precise co-registration of microscopic and wide-field views.
Eliminates the need for separate devices or subjective guides, reducing uncertainty and improving accuracy and repeatability in diagnostics.
Maintains or enhances optical sectioning performance by using an annular pupil, even with central obscuration caused by the integrated camera.
Enables compact, handheld, or endoscopic designs suitable for clinical examination, particularly in locations where traditional microscopes are too large.
Simplifies optical design and potentially reduces cost by allowing aberration correction through the integrated scanner, minimizing the number of glass surfaces needed.
Facilitates non-invasive evaluation and triage of tissue lesions, reducing unnecessary biopsies.
Documented Applications
Handheld devices for non-invasive simultaneous imaging of skin lesions to guide diagnosis and potentially reduce unnecessary biopsies.
Endoscopic or intraoral microscopes for imaging lesions in body locations inaccessible to conventional microscopes.
Guidance of confocal or other scanned-laser based microscopic imaging within the context of wide-field surface morphology.
Dual-modality imaging for dermatology, including examination, triage, and intraoperative mapping of cancer margins.
Application in other scanning laser-based imaging modalities, such as optical coherence tomography, multiphoton microscopy, second harmonic generation microscopy, photoacoustic microscopy, and structured light microscopy.
Development of compact, integrated microscopes for oral, cervical, GI, and other cancers.
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