Multichannel Confocal Microscopy Using Mixed-Mode Fiber Pair for Cellular-Resolution Imaging

This letter presents a study on the imaging capabilities of a mixed-mode fibre cantilever-based endoscopic scanner using cladding mode and multimode core detection methods. Characterization of the mixed-mode fibre cantilever was performed to determine the properties of the fibre cantilever and assess the capability of detection via the multimode core detection. Furthermore, we demonstrated the capabilities of these detection modes by imaging cellular samples. The findings reveal that cladding mode detection provides a bright image of the cellular structures with the <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$16.8~\mu $ </tex-math></inline-formula> m nucleus. Meanwhile, the images obtained from the multimode core detection reveal the irregularities on the surface, producing a pseudo-three-dimensional image of the sample. The application of multiple detection methods in the endoscopic scanner opens up new potential for more comprehensive optical imaging applications.