Integration and biocompatible packaging of multi-modal endoscopic imagers using 3D glass micro structuring

Multi-modal endomicroscopy is one of the most promising means to enable optical biopsy methods to attain the specificity and selectivity of conventional biopsy. However, the development of the complex opto-mechanical systems needs very high assembly tolerances, and robust, biocompatible and ultra-slim packaging solutions. Therefore, the prototyping and low-volume manufacturing of multi-modal endomicroscopes are often costly and time intensive processes. We present the opto-mechanical design of a novel endomicroscope combining wide-field microscopy and 3D OCT, and demonstrate the advantages of 3D glass micro structuring based assembly and packaging in terms of optical performance and device miniaturization. Using ray-tracing based Monte Carlo simulations, we demonstrate that this precision leads to a significantly better optical performance compared to that offered by rival 3D machining techniques, such as the state-of-the-art 3D polymer printers and conventional micromachining based solutions.