In medicine, finest endoscopes are not only being used for diagnostics but also more and more frequently for the therapy of illnesses. Thanks to their compact and flexible design of just a few millimeters diameter, they ensure even gentler minimally invasive procedures. Contrary to the limitations of the image quality of common endoscopes, the new innovative design of scanning fiber endoscopes (SFEs) offers new possibilities: SFEs generate laser-based, fully colored images with higher resolution and an enlarged visual field, e.g., in optical coherence tomography. The fast motion and control of piezo tubes leads to a scanning motion of the optical fiber in the scanning fiber endoscope. Thanks to this, SFEs deliver more image information, new findings in biomedical research, and improved minimally invasive procedures for the clinical routines. Read more
