Conic-spiraleur: a minature distal scanner for confocal microlaparascope: a miniature distal scanner for confocal microlaparoscope

Confocal microlaparoscopy is a promising approach in minimally invasive surgery for replacing conventional biopsies that involve physical tissue sampling. However, the typical images acquired with this technique cover a very small area limited by the field of view of the probe. This paper presents the mechanical design of a distal scanner, the conic-spiraleur, to perform automated spiral scan with the probe in order to construct a mosaic-image. The design of the conic-spiraleur is based on using a conic structure with a particularly curved surface. The pieces of the design are simple to manufacture and easy to assemble with conventional methods to form a device that can be inserted through a conventional 5-mm diameter trocar. We present the pieces, assembly, control, and precision test of the system. The system is tested in vivo in an experimental pig operation. We present the first in vivo, large field-of-view (3 mm(2)) and high resolution (1.4-mu m lateral and 10-mu m axial) images in confocal microscopy.