Glass 3D printing for ultra-miniaturized endoscopic optical systems

Endoscopy is one of the most widely used medical diagnostic tools for non-invasive in vivo imaging, and advances in micro-optics have radically increased the optical functionality of such probes. We show here how highly-precise freeform three-dimensional structuring of glass may be used to fabricate optomechanical mounting features and complete hermetic packaging for multi-modal optical diagnostic systems on size scales (typically less than 4 mm in diameter) compatible for use in standard endoscopic tools. Complete glass-encapsulated endo-microscopy imagers integrated with a scanning optical coherence tomography system are used as an example for the highly functional, ultra-compact endoscopic probe heads which may be realized with this technology.