Two-photon fluorescence imaging through multicore fiber with digital phase conjugation

We present near diffraction limited two photon fluorescence (TPF) imaging through a lensless, multi-core fiber (MCF) endoscope utilizing digital phase conjugation. The ultra-small size of MCFs make them desirable tools for imaging deep into the body. TPF imaging enables optical sectioning and is widely used in brain and biological imaging and is a desired modality for fiber endoscopes. Previous implementations of TPF imaging through MCFs focus and scan the light from individual cores for image formation. In such systems the resolution is limited by the MCF core spacing, although a lens may be used to improve the resolution at the expense of the field of view. Other, more recent work has improved the resolution limitation using custom built MCFs for focusing and scanning of ultrafast pulses using wavefront shaping. Here we present digital phase conjugation for ultrafast pulse focusing through a MCF for an imaging resolution independent of the MCF core spacing. Furthermore, the phase conjugation technique does not require the use of a lens at the fiber end for focus formation and is compatible with commercially available MCFs with a large number of cores. Here, we present a 3000 core MCF endoscope and demonstrate ultrafast pulse focusing with sufficient focus spot contrast and power for TPF endoscope imaging. We construct TPF images by digital scanning of the phase conjugated focus on the target object and collection of the emitted fluorescence through the MCF. This work demonstrates the viability of digital conjugation combined with commercially available MCFs for higher resolution lensless, two photon endoscopy.