Patent ID: 8861900

Claim:
A probe optical assembly for a probe for an optical coherence tomography (OCT) system, comprising in order along an axis: an optical fiber having an end that defines an object plane; a stub lens element having a lens and a stub section with a proximal end that resides adjacent the optical fiber end, the stub section being formed integral with the lens, the lens having a proximal end that includes a lens surface, the lens having a diameter D 2 or a cross-sectional dimension D 2 ′ and the stub section having a cross-sectional dimension D 1 , such that D 1 ≠D 2 or D 1 ≠D 2 ′; a light-deflecting member arranged adjacent and spaced apart from the lens surface of the stub lens element, the light-deflecting element having an axis that defines a working distance WD to an image plane; and wherein the optical fiber end, the stub lens element and the light-deflecting member are arranged in a cooperative optical relationship to define an optical path between the object and image planes that is folded by the light-deflecting member.