Biomedical Imaging

When High-Sensitivity is Crucial

Light-based imaging and detection

For biomedical and life science applications, photonics modalities must meet the highest sensitivity requirements due to the inherent challenges posed by highly turbid tissues or the low concentration of endogenous chromophores in the body. Fiber optics are particularly advantageous in this context, as they provide the flexibility needed to access organs deep within the body while ensuring ease of manufacturing, system robustness, and compactness.

Displayed is an in vivo OCT and autofluorescence image of human peripheral airways obtained using Castor's Double-clad fiber coupler.

Optimizing Signal-to-Noise Ratio: Castor’s Key Advantages

Achieving high sensitivity in biophotonics requires optimizing the signal-to-noise ratio, either by boosting the signal or minimizing noise. Our engineering team at Castor designed its solutions to optimize both parts of the ratio. By leveraging asymmetry in etendue, Castor’s couplers transfer multimode signals to and from the sample with greater than 50% efficiency, outperforming traditional beam splitter-based systems. Learn more about Castor’s core technology on the Technology page. Castor has also performed extensive work to reduce noise by mitigating back-reflections and minimizing autofluorescence, critical factors for high-sensitivity modalities.

Innovative Packaging Solutions

For biomedical applications, a system's mechanical characteristics can be as critical as its optical performance. Fiber optics-based systems eliminate the need for active micro-alignment typically used in manufacturing or maintaining free-space optics systems. This added robustness is key: some imaging systems must be rolled from one operating room to another, while others require portability or wearability. Fiber optics can reduce the footprint of an optics sub-assembly by approximately 30%, making them more practical for clinical use without sacrificing performance. Castor offers a line of compact sub-assemblies based on our extensive experience in system integration.

Our packaging solutions are compatible with proximal or distal scanning mechanisms, in-situ ferrule implants, and endoscopes.

See compact sub-assemblies

Supporting a Range of Modalities

Castor products have been specifically designed to optimize performance across various operational wavelengths and detection modalities. See our collection of Case studies and Application notes, and drop us a line to learn more!