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A new imaging technology allows 3D imaging at a video rate through a hair-wide optical fiber, which can transform imaging into a wide range of applications in industrial inspection and environmental monitoring. In the long term, this technology can be further developed for medical imaging.
The system was developed by an international team of scientists led by the optical team of the University of Glasgow. In a new paper published today in the journal Science, the team describes how they used a process called time-of-flight 3D imaging to create video images from a single multimode fiber.
Professor Miles Padgett, a research professor at the Royal Society of Glasgow University and principal investigator at QuantIC, the UK’s Quantum Enhanced Imaging Centre, said: “In applications such as endoscopy and laparoscopic imaging, traditionally it is achieved by using a bundle of optical fibers. Each pixel in the image causes the thickness of the device's finger.
"As an alternative, we are developing a new technology to image through the width of a hair. Our goal is to create a new generation of single-fiber imaging equipment that can produce 3D images of remote scenes.
"Together with our collaborators, we are happy to publish our latest research in the journal Science, and hope that this exposure will generate new connections and highlight possible end users of the technology we are developing."
Generally, when light passes through a single fiber, the crosstalk between modes will disturb the light and make the image unrecognizable.
To solve this problem, the team used advanced beam shaping technology to pattern the input laser onto the optical fiber to create a light spot at the output. Then the light spot scans the scene, and the system measures the intensity of the backscattered light entering another optical fiber-giving the brightness of each pixel in the image.
By using pulsed lasers, they can also measure the time of flight of light, thereby measuring the range of each pixel in the image. These 3D images can be recorded at a distance of tens of millimeters to several meters from the fiber end, and the millimeter distance resolution and frame rate are sufficient to perceive motion with close to video quality.
The prototype system transmits images through a 40 cm long optical fiber at a frequency of 5 Hz, and each frame contains up to about 4000 independently analyzable features, with a depth resolution of about 5 mm.
Currently, multimode fibers must be kept in a fixed position after calibration. Future research will focus on reducing calibration time and managing the dynamic characteristics of bending fibers. The team's goal is to cooperate with the industry to develop this functional technology research that will change the world in the next 10 years.
The project is a collaboration between physicists from the University of Glasgow, the University of Exeter, the Fraunhofer Center for Applied Photonics in Glasgow, the Leibniz Institute of Photonics Technology in Germany and the Brno University of Technology in the Czech Republic.
The paper entitled "Time-of-flight 3D imaging via multimode fiber" was published in the journal Science. Explore further imaging of the tip for more information: Daan Stellinga et al., Time-of-flight 3D imaging via multimode fiber, Science (2021). DOI: 10.1126/science.abl3771 Journal information: Science
Citation provided by the University of Glasgow: Realizing the imaging revolution of human hair width through optical fiber (2021, December 10), retrieved on December 14, 2021 from https://phys.org/news/2021-12-revolutionising-imaging- optical- Fiber-width.html This document is protected by copyright. Except for any fair transaction for private learning or research purposes, no part may be copied without written permission. The content is for reference only.
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