New 3D Measurement Technology Developed to Capture Even the Slightest Movements of Biological Tissue Using an Optical Comb: Advances in Medical and Industrial Applications Through Nano-Displacement Detection and High-Speed Tomographic Imaging

August 28, 2026

Key points

  • Established a new method that eliminates the conventional unseen area and enables simultaneous measurement of minute displacements and tomographic structures in biological tissues and transparent materials.
  • Achieved tens‑of‑nanometre precision together with one‑second high‑speed acquisition, enabling non-contact 3D inspection and high-speed tomographic measurement.
  • Constructed a high-performance measurement system operating with a single light source and single camera, enabling straightforward of integration into medical imaging devices and microscope systems.

A research group led by Associate Professor CHOI Samuel of the Electronic and Information Communications Program, Faculty of Engineering, Niigata University, in collaboration with Professor NIN Fumiaki of the Division of Biophysics and Physiology, Department of Life Principles, Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu University, and Professor HIBINO Hiroshi of the Division of Glocal Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, has developed a new interference measurement method using an optical frequency comb1. Conventional optical comb measurements had problems such as fixed comb spacing making it difficult to adjust the measurement range and precision as well as the occurrence of blind regions where interference signals vanish. In this study, these constraints were overcome by introducing sinusoidal phase modulation (SPM) to the interference signal, achieving high-speed, high-precision, and wideband full-field 3D measurement while completely eliminating blind regions. These findings were published on July 12, 2026, in Optics & Laser Technology, the international journal specializing in optical measurement.

[Term explanations]

1. Optical Frequency Comb
A special laser light in which the frequencies of light (colors of light) are arranged at equal intervals like comb teeth. As the light waves with a large number of frequencies are precisely aligned, the comb is used as an optical ruler for distance measurement and spectroscopic analysis. The comb is characterized by its extremely high precision in handling light frequencies.

Publication Details

Journal: Optics & Laser Technology
Title: Optical comb-based interferometry with sinusoidal phase modulation for full-field surface profile and tomographic measurement
Authors: Samuel Choi, Souta Miura, Atsuto Sugai, Shivam Kumar Chaubey, Fumiaki Nin, Hiroshi Hibino, Osami Sasaki.
Doi: 10.1016/j.optlastec.2026.115926

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