Patent ID: 7616986

Claim:
A method for using an optical fiber scanner for carrying out rapid scanning during imaging of a subject to carry out either optical coherence tomography, confocal imaging, or multiphoton excitation imaging of the subject, comprising the steps of: (a) advancing the optical fiber scanner to a position adjacent to the subject, the optical fiber scanner including an actuator cantilevered from a fixed mounting base, and an optical fiber, a portion of the optical fiber being cantilevered from the actuator to form a cantilevered optical fiber, the actuator including a plurality of pairs of drivers disposed in a predefined pattern to drive the cantilevered optical fiber in regard to a plurality of axes of the actuator; (b) actuating the cantilevered optical fiber such that it rapidly moves generally in a two-dimensional area scanning path comprising a desired scanning pattern and such that it is driven to vibrate at one of a resonant frequency, and a near-resonant frequency of the cantilevered optical fiber, a combination of the actuator that is cantilevered and the cantilevered optical fiber resulting in a large displacement of the cantilevered optical fiber as it moves in the two-dimensional scanning path at a rapid rate, the step of actuating comprising the step of applying a signal that actuates the plurality of pairs of drivers to drive the cantilevered optical fiber in the desired scanning pattern; (c) conveying light through the cantilevered optical fiber and emitting the light from a distal portion of the cantilevered optical fiber, to illuminate the subject as the light emitted from the distal portion of the cantilevered optical fiber scans the subject in the desired scanning pattern at a desired depth within the subject; (d) moving a focal point of the optical fiber scanner generally along an axis that is substantially orthogonal to the plane of the desired scanning pattern, to scan at a different desired depth within the subject; and (e) repeating step (b) at the different desired depth.