OptiBlocks fiber optic rapid prototyping system enables easy construction of in vivo / in situ fluorescence spectrometer utilizing single optical fiber both for excitation light delivery and for collection of the fluorescence.
The fluorimeter system comprises laser light source, Ocean Optics spectrometer, OptiBlocks based filter block and fiber optic probe (3). The OptiBlock system includes three fiber coupler OptiBlocks (1) and a single Splitter OptiBlock (5). The OptiBlock based system features single optical fiber (3) for transmission of the laser excitation light to the sample under test (4) and transmission of the collected fluorescence back into the spectrometer. The fiber from a laser light source connects to the Collimator / Coupler OptiBlock (1) that includes a collimating lens (2).
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The collimating laser light passes through optional laser line interference filter (6) in order to clean the undesired laser emission. The transmission band of the dichroic mirror (7) is chosen to transmit longer wavelength fluorescence and reflect the shorter excitation wavelength of the laser. The dichroic mirror (7) reflects the laser light towards the exit fiber coupler OptiBlock (9) that enables coupling of the laser light into a single optical fiber probe (3) by a lens (10). The laser light excites fluorescence at the target under test (4). Some part of the excited fluorescence is collected by the single fiber probe (3) and transmitted back to the coupler (9).
The lens (10) collimates the light exiting the fiber. The collimated fluorescence light passes through the dichroic mirror (7) fixed inside the Splitter OptiBlock (5) and through the long pass filter (8). The long pass filter (8) is required in order to suppress the very high intensity of the laser excitation light that can enter the spectrometer and increase the undesired stray light. Eventually the fluorescence light is coupled to the spectrometer entrance fiber bundle (12) by means of the coupler OptiBlock (11). At the spectrometer end of the fiber bundle (12) the optical fibers are arranged in line to form a vertical slit that optimally fits the entrance slit of the spectrometer. The coupler lenses (13) and (10) are chosen in such a way as to optimize the optical throughput. The fiber core diameter times NA of the collection fiber (3) should match as close as possible the spectrometer entrance fiber bundle (12) diameter times NA. The NA and the core diameter and number of the individual fibers at the spectrometer entrance fiber bundle (12) are mainly defined by the spectrometer specifications. The whole system is assembled on a standard metal plate inside a lab style plastic enclosure, equipped with a fiber optics and electronics ports.
Above is an example of fluorescence spectrometer system based on the OptiBlocks. We offer the building blocks of such systems for Do It Yourself (DIY) assembly. Alternatively we offer custom assembly of Spectrofluorometers or any other type system based on OptiBlocks tailored to your specific application.
The spectrofluorometer applications include tissue fluorescence monitoring, tissue optics research, fiber optic sensor development, biophotonics and biomedical research.
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Modular OptiBlocks Prototyping System