Requirements of MEMS membrane mirrors for focus adjustment and aberration correction in endoscopic confocal and optical coherence tomography imaging instruments

We explore the use of deformable membrane mirrors for primary focus control and spherical aberration correction in confocal microscopes and optical coherence tomography instruments that are miniaturized for in-situ imaging. Membrane requirements to achieve specified system performance are explored for both high and low numerical aperture regimes. Examples of both confocal imaging and focus-tracking optical coherence tomography using varifocus silicon nitride MEMS mirrors are presented. It is envisioned that future instruments with enhanced-stroke adaptive membrane mirrors will provide high fidelity microscopy and optical coherence tomography for diagnostic imaging of intact, living tissue. (c) 2008 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.