Ultrathin optical coherence tomography endoscope could enable imaging during retinal surgery
· Medical Xpressby Emily Seling, University of Kent
edited by Lisa Lock, reviewed by Andrew Zinin
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A team of physicists from the Applied Optics Group at the University of Kent has developed a new design for an ultrathin, forward-viewing endoscope. Together with partners from King's College London and Moorfields Eye Hospital, they have engineered a device that captures optical coherence tomography (OCT) images of tissue up to about 1 mm beneath its surface. The initial prototype has a diameter of just 0.31 mm, small enough for potential use in retinal surgery.
OCT is already an important tool for the diagnosis of eye disease due to its unique ability to provide high-resolution, cross-sectional images through the retina. Imaging is normally performed from outside of the eye, with images captured by rapidly scanning a low-power laser beam through the pupil. But for some surgical procedures, it may be beneficial to have a very small OCT endoscope inserted into the eye itself.
Most compact OCT endoscopes are side-viewing; when introduced into tubular structures such as blood vessels, they generate images of the vessel walls. Making an endoscope that is forward-viewing without increasing the diameter is much more difficult, but this is exactly what is needed for use inside the eye.
Dr. Radu Stancu, Dr. Michael Hughes, Dr. Manuel Marques and professor Adrian Podoleanu, all part of the School of Engineering, Mathematics and Physics, published their new endoscope design in the journal Biomedical Optics Express, where it was selected as an Editor's Pick.
Their key innovation was to use an angle-cut optical fiber which, when rotated, causes the exiting beam to scan over the tissue. By joining together very short lengths of optical fiber at the tip of the endoscope, the team was able to fabricate a lens that is just 0.125 mm in diameter. This made it possible to build an imaging probe that isn't much bigger than the optical fiber itself.
While the technology has been fully demonstrated in laboratory experiments, further work would be needed to develop the design into a medical-grade device and to explore its value in real surgical procedures.
Publication details
Radu-Florin Stancu et al., Ultra-thin, forward-viewing OCT endoscope using a rotating angle-cleaved fiber, Biomedical Optics Express (2026). DOI: 10.1364/boe.614912
Journal information: Biomedical Optics Express
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Citation: Ultrathin optical coherence tomography endoscope could enable imaging during retinal surgery (2026, November 3) retrieved 3 November 2026 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-11-ultrathin-optical-coherence-tomography-endoscope.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.