Miniature endoscope for multimodal imaging

A single miniature endoscope capable of concurrently probing multiple contrast mechanisms of tissue in high resolution is highly attractive, as it makes it possible for providing complementary, more complete tissue information on internal organs hard to access. Here we describe such a miniature endoscope only 1 mm in diameter that integrates photoacoustic imaging (PAI), optical coherence tomography (OCT), and ultrasound (US). The integration of PAI/ OCT/US allows for high-resolution imaging of three tissue contrasts including optical absorption (PAI), optical scattering (OCT), and acoustic properties (US). We demonstrate the capabilities of this trimodal endoscope using mouse ear, human hand, and human arteries with atherosclerotic plaques. This 1-mm-diameter trimodal endoscope has the potential to be used for imaging of internal organs such as arteries, GI tracts, esophagus, and prostate in both humans and animals.