Patent ID: 7952718

Claim:
A method for performing optical coherence tomography (OCT), comprising the steps of: (a) advancing an OCT probe comprising an optical fiber and a compound lens to a position adjacent to a sample, wherein the compound lens includes a plurality of optical elements; (b) directing light from a distal end of the optical fiber through the compound lens, the compound lens being configured to focus light from the OCT probe at a predefined working distance, while enabling a smaller focused spot size to be achieved at the predefined working distance as compared to an OCT probe having a similar diameter that is configured to focus light at the predefined working distance using a single component lens, the step of directing light from the distal end of the optical fiber through the compound lens comprising the steps of: (i) directing light from the distal end of the optical fiber toward a beam adjusting element of the compound lens, the beam adjusting element being configured to manipulate light from the optical fiber so that a light beam exiting the beam adjusting element has a smaller beam diameter than a light beam exiting the distal end of the optical fiber, thus increasing a numerical aperture of the OCT probe relative to that at the distal end of the optical fiber; and (ii) directing light from the beam adjusting element to a distal lens element in the compound lens, the distal lens element being configured to focus light manipulated by the beam adjusting element at the predefined working distance proximate the sample; (c) collecting light received back from the sample; and (d) using light received back from the sample to generate OCT data.