Fully Fiber-Integrated 3D-Printed Probes for Plug-and-Play Endoscopic Optical Coherence Tomography.

Abstract

Miniature probes extend optical coherence tomography (OCT) into lumens and other confined spaces, but conventional implementations often rely on multiple distal components, fiber processing, and probe-specific interferometer matching. Here, a fully fiber-integrated OCT (F2I-OCT) architecture is demonstrated in which two-photon microfabrication defines not only the terminal imaging optic, but the complete distal optical and interferometric architecture within a single fiber-mounted element. Beam expansion, side-view redirection, common-path reference generation, and terminal imaging are physically integrated while remaining independently designable. This architecture transfers complexity from component fabrication and interferometer matching into three-dimensional optical design, reducing assembly to a print-and-bond process and enabling plug-and-play exchange on the same OCT platform. Terminal optics can be adapted to different working distances, surrounding media, and wavefront transformations without redesigning the upstream architecture. Twenty assembled probes exhibit returned-reference and side-viewing-output power standard deviations of 0.149 dB and 0.071 dB, respectively. The system achieves 93.1 dB sensitivity and enables ex vivo imaging of airway and dental structures. The combination of a common plug-and-play architecture with broad optical design freedom provides a versatile platform for endoscopic and confined-space imaging across diverse biomedical and technical environments.