High-resolution and ultra-thin endo-microscopy using a GRIN rod lens (Conference Presentation)

A graded-index (GRIN) lens is suitable for developing an ultra-thin endoscope due to its small diameter and simplicity for optics design. A GRIN lens, however, generates intrinsic optical aberration causing low resolution and poor imaging quality. Recently, wavefronts of light can be measured with very high precision and the optical aberration can be corrected in numerical ways even for the case of highly scattering media. In this study, based on the high precision wavefront sensing and numerical image processing techniques, we demonstrate a high-resolution and ultra-thin endo-microscope using a GRIN rod lens as a core imaging optics. We constructed a reflection-type interferometric microscope through a GRIN rod lens using a p-polarized Nd:YAG laser (532 nm) as a light source. By recording and processing blank transmission images as a function of various illumination states, the characteristics of the aberration generated by the GRIN lens were obtained. After this pre-calibration, we could numerically compensate the aberration induced onto a reflection image of an object. Consequently, a diffraction limited lateral resolution as well as improved axial resolution could be achieved. Our approach will fascinate the use of GRIN lenses for compact and high-resolution imaging devices including ultra-thin endo-microscopes.