Patent ID: 7068878

Claim:
A compact scanner, comprising: (a) a waveguide that conveys light between a proximal and a distal end, said waveguide having an effective light source position proximate to the distal end; (b) an optical component that is attached to the distal end of the waveguide, said optical component reducing a numerical aperture of the lensed waveguide; and (c) an actuator for exciting a portion of the waveguide that is adjacent to the distal end and is cantilevered from the actuator to vibrate at a desired frequency and in a desired pattern, excitation of the portion of the waveguide that is cantilevered from the actuator causing a rotation to occur for scanning a region with light from the optical component, wherein a characteristic of the light emitted from the optical component is selectively determined by controlling a spatial relationship between the effective light source position and at least one of: (i) a back focal point of the optical component; and (ii) a location of a vibratory node of the portion of the waveguide that is cantilevered from the actuator.