Optics, mechanical and electrical design
Meta Quest 3 Mount
I was given an opportunity to work with a graduate student on an upcoming poster for optical safety. Originally, we had planned to create a filter-mount design for a modified Meta Quest 3. By removing the internal NIR filter, the passthrough cameras on the Quest could now see NIR light.
Meta has already researched and developed the Quest with a very useable level of passthrough. By utilizing their technology, the Quest could be used to visualize NIR light sources that are dangerous and require viewing cards and specialized, expensive goggles.
I designed a filter wheel mount for our uses, with a swappable wheel with 2 pairs of different filters. I also included a separate ring for LEDs or other electronics, powered through USB-C.
The system worked in our tests, but an interesting application became clear. For our fluorescence image-guided surgery, an excitation light source and fluorescence output must be isolated from each other to locate tumors.
But with the increased range of sensitivity on the modified Quest 3 passthrough cameras and a set of notch filters, we could isolate the required wavelengths and directly utilize the passthrough on the Quest 3. For surgical applications, this meant a safe and co-registered method for real-time assistance.
I redesigned for surgical applications in mind, experimenting with filter arrangements, and easy methods of filter swapping. I tested using imaging phantoms and our lab’s excitation laser. I also made adjustments to improve print quality, with no post-processing or supports necessary. My final designs were sent off to collect clinical data.
With surgeon feedback and reviewing the collected data from the Meta Quest, I made several small adjustments, and simplified the design further while improving FOV and bringing the filters as close as possible to the main cameras.
I also made several other versions of the filter holders to accommodate different filters we wanted to experiment with. With a proof of concept finished, we’ve been working on expanding this project, with a manuscript in progress.
