Fiber-coupled confocal microscope for in vivo corneal scanning

Several confocal microscopes are designed, breadboarded and tested for axial response. The purpose of the design of the new confocal system is to develop a smaller faster confocal system for corneal imaging. The systems differ by pinhole arrangement and pinhole type. In two of the systems a fiber optic cable is used in place of a pinhole. The light source for all these confocal systems was a Coherent green HeNe. These systems are compared on the basis of their axial resolution, and light budget. In some cases polarizing optics were used to increase light budget, as well as eliminate back reflection.; A new objective was also designed and tested using ZEMAX-EE optical design software. ZEMAX-EE enables the testing of image quality, and system analysis without the manufacturing of the system. This allows for low cost prototyping.