Claims
- 1. A hybrid lidar-radar system for detecting the presence of tissue inhomogeneities, within the tissue by detection of reflected and scattered light signals from the tissue and discriminating the information related to the cancerous tumors from the scattering of light created by the tissue itself, comprising:
a source of microwave energy for providing a microwave subcarrier signal; a source of continuous wave light for providing and for transmitting toward said tissue an optical carrier signal that is modulated by the microwave subcarrier signal, said source of light transports said microwave subcarrier signal through the tissue and is reflected and scattered by the tissue; a detector for detecting the scattered and reflected light and for producing electrical signals indicative thereof; and an optical detector that provides an output signal to a network analyzer that receives said produced electrical signals and measures the phase and amplitude differences between the light scattered from the tissue and said reference signal for the detection of said tissue inhomogeneities.
- 2. The hybrid lidar-radar system according to claim 1, wherein said optical carrier signal has a frequency and wherein source of continuous wave light comprises:
first and lasers each having an operating wavelength of about 1064 nm, said first and second lasers having an optical frequency difference in the range from 0.01 GHz to 60 GHz, each of said first and second lasers having an output; a 50/50 optical splitter receiving and combining the outputs of said first and second lasers, said optical splitter having first and second outputs with the first output transmitted toward the tissue; an optical detector for receiving the second output of said optical splitter and a mixer for mixing it with a reference signal having a frequency slightly offset from the desired modulation frequency, said mixer providing an output serving as an offset and having an intermediate frequency; and laser offset locking assembly receiving the output of said mixer and providing an output signal to each of said first and second lasers that provides coherence between the first and second lasers to said offset intermediate frequency.
- 3. The hybrid lidar-radar system according to claim 2, wherein each of said first and second lasers provide coherent light having a power level of about 700 mw.
- 4. A method using a hybrid lidar-radar system for detecting the presence of tissue inhomogeneities within tissue by detecting reflected and scattered light signals from the tissue and discriminating the information related to cancerous tumors from the scattering of light created by the tissue itself comprising the steps:
providing a microwave subcarrier signal; providing a modulator having said microwave subcarrier applied thereto; providing a source of light that provides an optical carrier signal comprising a reference signal is transmitted toward the tissue; modulating said optical carrier signal with said microwave subcarrier signal; detecting the optical carrier signal comprising said reference signal and the scattered modulated light signals all of which produce electrical signals thereof; measuring said electrical signals to detect phase and amplitude differences between the reflected and scattered light signal and said reference signal so as to determine the presence of said tissue inhomogeneities.
- 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein said provided source of continuous wave light comprises first and second lasers each having an operating wavelength of about 1064 nm with the first and second lasers having an optical frequency difference in the range from 0.01 GHz to 60 GHz.
- 6. The method according to claim 4, wherein said detection is performed by a network analyzer.
STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INTEREST
[0001] The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefore.