Patent ID: 7428053

Claim:
A common path frequency domain optical coherence reflectometer specified by a longitudinal range of interest having a proximal boundary and a distal boundary, and at least partially overlapping with an associated sample, comprising: a source of optical radiation; a portion of optical fiber with predetermined optical properties optically coupled with the source of optical radiation, the portion of optical fiber with predetermined optical properties adapted for producing two eigen modes of the optical radiation propagating therethrough with a predetermined optical path length difference; a delivering device adapted for forming and delivering an optical radiation beam to an associated sample, the delivering device comprising a proximal part and a distal part, the distal part of the delivering device including a reference reflector; a directional element adapted for directing two replicas of the optical radiation, propagating with an optical path length difference generally equal to the predetermined optical path length difference for the two eigen modes of the optical radiation, to the proximal part of the delivering device, the directional element being optically coupled with the delivering device and with the portion of optical fiber with predetermined optical properties; a frequency domain optoelectronic registering unit including a data processing and displaying unit, and optically coupled with the directional element; wherein the reference reflector is adapted for producing a combination optical radiation by combining an optical radiation returning from an associated sample with a reference optical radiation reflected from the reference reflector; wherein the delivering device is further adapted for delivering the combination optical radiation to the directional element, and wherein the directional element is further adapted for directing the combination optical radiation to the frequency domain optoelectronic registering unit.