Extended field-of-view in a lensless endoscope using an aperiodic multicore fiber

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that using an aperiodic multicore fiber in lensless endoscopy significantly enhances the field of view by reducing diffraction effects, enabling high-quality imaging over a 120-micron range.

Contribution

It introduces a novel aperiodic multicore fiber design that increases the field of view in lensless endoscopy, overcoming limitations of periodic core arrangements.

Findings

Aperiodic MCF increases FoV up to diffraction limit.

Experimental pixelation-free imaging over 120 microns FoV.

Beam scanning achieved by simple wavefront tilt.

Abstract

We investigate lensless endoscopy using coherent beam combining and aperiodic multicore fibers (MCF). We show that diffracted orders, inherent to MCF with periodically arranged cores, dramatically reduce the field of view (FoV) and that randomness in MCF core positions can increase the FoV up to the diffraction limit set by a single fiber core, while maintaining MCF experimental feasibility. We demonstrate experimentally pixelation-free lensless endoscopy imaging over a 120 micron FoV with an aperiodic MCF designed with widely spaced cores. We show that this system is suitable to perform beam scanning imaging by simply applying a tilt to the proximal wavefront.