Optical Probe for Near-Infrared (NIR) Fluorescence Signal Detection with High Optical Performance and Thermal Stability

Abstract

We propose a new optical probe for near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence signal detection with high optical performance and thermal stability. The optical probe is composed of an optical source part for efficient excitation of NIR fluorescence signal, a heat dissipation part for stable operation of the NIR fluorescence probe, and an optical detection part for efficient detection of NIR fluorescence signal. From a simulation by use of an optical simulation tool, Light Tools^TM, we could confirm that the optical probe has optical propagation efficiency of 79.6% in case of using a circular detector with 20 cm in diameter located at 20 cm in distance from the optical source. From a measurement of temperature variation of the optical probe, we could also confirm that the optical probe has thermal stability with a standard deviation of 2.19°C under room temperature condition. Finally, from an evaluation of fluorescence image quality, we could confirm that an optical noise which can bring on by overlapped band between optical spectrum of the optical source for fluorescence excitation and optical spectrum of the emitted fluorescence signal decreased effectively in the optical probe.