Claims
- 1. A MEMS vertical displacement device, comprising:
an anchor; at first frame rotatable about the anchor and having a first side and a second side opposing the first side; at least one first actuator coupled to the first side of the first frame and to the anchor enabling the first frame to rotate about the anchor; at least one vertically displaceable platform rotatable about the second side of the first frame; and at least one second actuator coupled to the second side of the first frame and to the at least one vertically displaceable platform enabling the at least one vertically displaceable platform to rotate about the second side of the first frame.
- 2. The MEMS vertical displacement device of claim 1, wherein the at least one first actuator is a thermal actuator.
- 3. The MEMS vertical displacement device of claim 2, wherein the at least one second actuator is a thermal actuator.
- 4. The MEMS vertical displacement device of claim 2, wherein the thermal actuator is formed from at least two layers of different material having different coefficients of thermal expansion.
- 5. The MEMS vertical displacement device of claim 4, further comprising a third material encapsulated in at least one of the materials that functions as a heating element.
- 6. The MEMS vertical displacement device of claim 1, further comprising at least one extension arm coupled to the first frame and to the vertical displacement device for increasing the amount of vertical displacement of the vertically displaceable platform.
- 7. The MEMS vertical displacement device of claim 1, wherein the vertically displaceable platform is a microlens.
- 8. The MEMS vertical displacement device of claim 1, wherein the vertically displaceable platform is a micromirror.
- 9. The MEMS vertical displacement device of claim 1 wherein the vertically displaceable platform is micro-grating.
- 10. The MEMS vertical displacement device of claim 1, further comprising a second frame rotatably coupled to the first frame using the at least one second actuator and a third frame coupled to the second frame using a third actuator, wherein the second frame fits inside the first frame and the third frame fits inside the second frame while the vertical displacement device is not actuated.
- 11. The MEMS vertical displacement device of claim 10, wherein the third frame is coupled to the second frame at a side generally orthogonal to the side to which the second frame is attached to the first frame.
- 12. The MEMS vertical displacement device of claim 11, wherein the vertically displaceable platform is coupled to a side of the third frame that is generally opposite to the side to which the third frame is attached to the second frame.
- 13. The MEMS vertical displacement device of claim 12, wherein the vertically displaceable platform is a microlens and is capable of being used to perform 2D scanning.
- 14. The MEMS vertical displacement device of claim 12, wherein the vertically displaceable platform is a micromirror and is capable of being used to perform 2D scanning.
- 15. The MEMS vertical displacement device of claim 12, wherein the vertically displaceable platform is micro-grating and is capable of being used to perform 2D scanning.
- 16. A MEMS-based optical coherence tomography imaging system, comprising:
a beam splitter; a vertically scanning MEMS micromirror coupled to beam splitter; a bi-directionally movable MEMS micromirror coupled to beam splitter for conducting a transverse sample scan; and a photodetector coupled to beam splitter for detecting signals from reference MEMS micromirror and scanning MEMS micromirror.
- 17. The MEMS-based optical coherence tomography imaging system of claim 16, wherein the vertically scanning MEMS micromirror is supported by a MEMS vertical displacement device, comprising:
an anchor; at first frame rotatable about the anchor and having a first side and a second side opposing the first side; at least one first thermal actuator coupled to the first side of the first frame and to the anchor enabling the first frame to rotate about the anchor; the vertcially scanning micromirror rotatable about the second side of the first frame; and at least one second thermal actuator coupled to the second side of the first frame and to the vertically scanning micromirror enabling the vertically scanning micromirror to rotate about the second side of the first frame.
- 18. The MEMS-based optical coherence tomography imaging system of claim 16, wherein the bi-directionally movable MEMS micromirror is supported by a MEMS vertical displacement device, comprising:
an anchor; at first frame rotatable about the anchor and having a first side and a second side opposing the first side; at least one first thermal actuator coupled to the first side of the first frame and to the anchor enabling the first frame to rotate about the anchor; a second frame rotatably coupled to the first frame using at least one second actuator; a third frame coupled to the second frame using a third actuator; and a bi-directionally movable micromirror rotatable rotatably coupled to the third frame using a fourth actuator enabling the bi-directionally movable micromirror to rotate about two axes and to be movable along a third axis.
- 19. The MEMS-based optical coherence tomography imaging system of claim 16, wherein the optical coherence tomography imaging system is in communication with a bronchoscope.
- 20. An optical coherence microscopy device, comprising:
a beam splitter; a reference scanning MEMS micromirror coupled to beam splitter; a sample scanning MEMS microlens coupled to beam splitter; and a photodetector coupled to beam splitter for detecting signals from reference MEMS micromirror and scanning MEMS microlens.
- 21. The MEMS-based optical coherence microscopy system of claim 20, wherein the reference scanning MEMS micromirror is supported by a MEMS vertical displacement device, comprising:
an anchor; at first frame rotatable about the anchor and having a first side and a second side opposing the first side; at least one first thermal actuator coupled to the first side of the first frame and to the anchor enabling the first frame to rotate about the anchor; the reference scanning micromirror rotatable about the second side of the first frame; and at least one second thermal actuator coupled to the second side of the first frame and to the reference scanning micromirror enabling the reference scanning micromirror to rotate about the second side of the first frame.
- 22. The MEMS-based optical coherence tomography microscopy system of claim 20, wherein the sample scanning MEMS micromirror is supported by a MEMS vertical displacement device, comprising:
an anchor; at first frame rotatable about the anchor and having a first side and a second side opposing the first side; at least one first thermal actuator coupled to the first side of the first frame and to the anchor enabling the first frame to rotate about the anchor; a second frame rotatably coupled to the first frame using at least one second actuator; a third frame coupled to the second frame using a third actuator; and a sample scanning micromirror rotatably coupled to the third frame using a fourth actuator enabling the sample scanning micromirror to rotate about two axes and to be movable along a third axis.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/467,225, filed May 1, 2003.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60467225 |
May 2003 |
US |