Apparatus, devices and methods for obtaining omnidirectional viewing by a catheter

Abstract

An apparatus for obtaining information regarding a biological structure(s) can include, for example a light guiding arrangement which can include a fiber through which an electromagnetic radiation(s) can be propagated, where the electromagnetic radiation can be provided to or from the structure. An at least partially reflective arrangement can have multiple surfaces, where the reflecting arrangement can be situated with respect to the optical arrangement such that the surfaces thereof each can receive a(s) beam of the electromagnetic radiations instantaneously, and a receiving arrangement(s) which can be configured to receive the reflected radiation from the surfaces which include speckle patterns.

1 . An apparatus for obtaining information regarding at least one biological structure, comprising:
 a light guiding arrangement which includes at least one fiber through which at least one electromagnetic radiation is propagated, wherein the electromagnetic radiation is provided at least one of to or from the structure;   at least partially reflective arrangement having multiple surfaces, wherein the reflecting arrangement is situated with respect to the optical arrangement such that the surfaces thereof each receives at least one beam of the electromagnetic radiations instantaneously; and   at least one receiving arrangement which is configured to receive the reflected radiation from the surfaces which include speckle patterns.   
     
     
         2 . (canceled) 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the reflective arrangement has at least one portion with a shape of at least one of a cone, a polygon or a pyramid. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising an optical arrangement configured to receive the at least one electromagnetic radiation. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus according to  claim 4 , wherein the optical arrangement includes at least one of a GRIN lens, a ball lens or an imaging lens. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the number surfaces is 2 or more. 
     
     
         7 . (canceled) 
     
     
         8 . (canceled) 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the light guiding arrangement includes a configuration which splits the electromagnetic radiation to further radiations having different wavelengths, wherein the multiple surfaces reflect the further radiations, and wherein the at least one receiving arrangement is further configured to receive the reflected further radiations provided at the different wavelengths. 
     
     
         10 - 25 . (canceled) 
     
     
         26 . An apparatus for imaging at least one portion of a biological structure, comprising:
 a radiation providing arrangement which is configured to forward at least one first electromagnetic radiation to the structure at multiple illumination locations;   a detector arrangement which is configured to receive at least one second electromagnetic radiation from the multiple locations of the structure; and   a pullback arrangement which, during the forwarding of the first electromagnetic radiation, is configured to pull back at least one of the radiation arrangement of the detector arrangement,   wherein the detector arrangement is further configured to image the at least one portion of the structure based on the at least one second electromagnetic radiation, without a rotation of the radiation providing arrangement.   
     
     
         27 . The apparatus according to  claim 26 , wherein the at least one first electromagnetic radiation is forwarded to the structure at multiple illumination locations substantially simultaneously. 
     
     
         28 . The apparatus according to  claim 26 , wherein the at least one second electromagnetic radiation is received from the multiple locations of the structure substantially simultaneously. 
     
     
         29 . The apparatus according to  claim 26 , wherein the at least one second electromagnetic radiation provides information regarding a speckle pattern reflected from the at least one portion of the structure. 
     
     
         30 . The apparatus according to  claim 29 , wherein the speckle pattern has an intensity that varies in time. 
     
     
         31 . The apparatus according to  claim 29 , wherein the variation of the intensity of the speckle pattern provides information regarding mechanical properties of the at least one portion of the structure, which are determined by the detector arrangement. 
     
     
         32 . (canceled) 
     
     
         33 . (canceled) 
     
     
         34 . A method for imaging at least one portion of a biological structure, comprising:
 a) using a radiation providing arrangement, forwarding at least one first electromagnetic radiation to the structure at multiple illumination locations;   b) using a detector arrangement, receiving at least one second electromagnetic radiation from the multiple locations of the structure; and   c) during procedure (a), pulling back at least one of the radiation arrangement of the detector arrangement,   wherein the detector arrangement is configured to image substantially an entire surface of the at least one portion of the structure based on the at least one second electromagnetic radiation, without a rotation of the radiation providing arrangement.   
     
     
         35 . The method according to  claim 34 , wherein the at least one first electromagnetic radiation is forwarded to the structure at multiple illumination locations substantially simultaneously. 
     
     
         36 . The method according to  claim 34 , wherein the at least one second electromagnetic radiation is received from the multiple locations of the structure substantially simultaneously. 
     
     
         37 . A method for obtaining information regarding at least one biological structure, comprising:
 receiving information related to at least one radiation reflected from the at least one biological structure including at least one speckle pattern; and   using a computer hardware arrangement, generating an image of the at least one biological structure based on the information.   
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 37 , further comprising removing pixilation artifacts from the at least one speckle pattern. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 37 , further comprising determining a speckle intensity fluctuation of the at least one speckle pattern. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 39 , wherein the speckle intensity fluctuation is determined by measuring a change of multiple mirror facets over time. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 37 , further comprising removing at least one of a background fluctuation or a source fluctuation from the at least one speckle pattern. 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 37 , further comprising filtering at least one of substantially static or non-fluctuating speckles from the at least one speckle pattern. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 37 , further comprising determining a phase fluctuation of the at least one reflected radiation. 
     
     
         44 . A non-transitory computer-accessible medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for obtaining information regarding at least one biological structure, wherein, when a computer arrangement executes the instructions, the computer arrangement is configured to perform procedures comprising:
 receiving information related to at least one radiation reflected from the at least one biological structure including at least one speckle pattern; and   generating an image of the at least one biological structure based on the information.   
     
     
         45 - 73 . (canceled)