Film coating of pharmaceutical tablets is often applied to influence the drug release behaviour. The coating characteristics such as thickness and uniformity are critical quality parameters, which need to be precisely controlled. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) shows not only high potential for off-line quality control of film-coated tablets but also for in-line monitoring of coating processes. However, an in-line quality control tool must be able to determine coating thickness measurements automatically and in real-time. This study proposes an automatic thickness evaluation algorithm for bi-convex tables, which provides about 1000 thickness measurements within 1 s. Beside the segmentation of the coating ...

We developed a novel high-speed en face optical coherence tomography (OCT) system using a KTa 1– x Nb x O 3 (KTN) optical beam deflector. Using the imaging system, fast scanning was performed at 200 kHz by the KTN beam deflector, while slow scanning was performed at 400 Hz by the galvanometer mirror. In a preliminary experiment, we obtained en face OCT images of a human fingerprint at 400 fps. This is the highest speed reported in time-domain en face OCT imaging and is comparable to the speed of swept-source OCT. A 3D-OCT image of a sweat gland was also ...

We report our preliminary results on quantification of glucose and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) diffusion in normal and cancerous human bladder tissues in vitro by using a spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). The permeability coefficients (PCs) of a 30% aqueous solution of glucose are found to be (7.92 ± 0.81) × 10 -6 cm s -1 and (1.19 ± 0.13) × 10 -5 cm s -1 in normal and cancerous bladder tissues, respectively. The PCs of 50% DMSO are calculated to be (8.99 ± 0.93) × 10 -6 cm s -1 and (1.43 ± 0.17) × 10 -5 cm s ...

Laser irradiation is considered to be a promising innovative technology which has been developed in an attempt to increase transdermal drug delivery. In this study, a near-infrared CW diode laser (785 nm) was applied to increase permeability of glycerol solutions in human skin in vivo and improve the optical clearing efficacy. Results show that for both 15%v/v and 30%v/v glycerol, the permeability coefficient increased significantly if the detected area of the skin tissue was treated with laser irradiation before optical clearing agents (OCAs) were applied. This study based on optical coherence tomography imaging technique and optical ...

We demonstrated supercontinuum (SC) generation for ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography (UHR-OCT) in the 0.8 µm wavelength region using an ultrashort-pulse fiber laser system. An Er-doped ultrashort-pulse fiber laser with single-wall carbon nanotubes was developed as the seed pulse source. A 46 fs, highest quality, pedestal-free, clean, ultrashort pulse was generated with a similariton amplifier. Then, a 60 fs ideal ultrashort pulse was generated at a wavelength of 0.8 µm with a second-harmonic generation (SHG) crystal, and a Gaussian-like SC was generated in a photonic crystal fiber. UHR-OCT was demonstrated using the generated SC, and precise images of a ...

Shear wave elastography imaging techniques provide quantitative measurement of soft tissues elastic properties. Tendons, muscles and cerebral tissues are composed of fibers, which induce a strong anisotropic effect on the mechanical behavior. Currently, these tissues cannot be accurately represented by existing elastography phantoms. Recently, a novel approach for orthotropic hydrogel mimicking soft tissues has been developed (Millon et al 2006 J. Biomed. Mater. Res. B 305–11). The mechanical anisotropy is induced in a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) cryogel by stretching the physical crosslinks of the polymeric chains while undergoing freeze/thaw cycles. In the present study we propose an original ...

In an optical coherence tomography (OCT) scan from a living tissue, red blood cells (RBCs) are the major source of backscattering signal from moving particles within microcirculatory system. Measuring the concentration and velocity of RBC particles allows assessment of RBC flux and flow, respectively, to assess tissue perfusion and oxygen/nutrition exchange rates within micro-structures. In this paper, we propose utilizing spectral estimation techniques to simultaneously quantify bi-directional particle flow and relative flux by spectral estimation of the received OCT signal from moving particles within capillary tubes embedded in tissue mimicking phantoms. The proposed method can be directly utilized for ...

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been applied for high resolution imaging of articular cartilage. However, the contribution of individual structural elements of cartilage on OCT signal has not been thoroughly studied. We hypothesize that both collagen and chondrocytes, essential structural components of cartilage, act as important light scatterers and that variation in their concentrations can be detected by OCT through changes in backscattering and attenuation. To evaluate this hypothesis, we established a controlled model system using agarose scaffolds embedded with variable collagen concentrations and chondrocyte densities. Using OCT, we measured the backscattering coefficient ( µ b ) and total attenuation coefficient ( µ t ) in ...

The present study is concerned with the in vitro study of different sized titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanoparticles' (NPs) penetration and accumulation in human normal lung (NL) tissue and lung adenocarcinoma tumor (LAT) tissue by the methods of continuous optical coherence tomography (OCT) monitoring and diffuse reflectance (DR) spectra measurement, and their evaluating the effects of TiO 2 NPs in two sizes (60 nm and 100 nm) and their combination with ultrasound (US) on the optical properties of human NL and LAT tissue. Spectral measurements indicate that TiO 2 NPs penetrate and accumulate into the tissues and thus induce enhancement ...

Micro-Opto-Electro-Mechanical optical coherence tomography, a lab-on-chip for biomedical applications is designed, studied, fabricated and characterized. To fabricate the device standard PolyMUMPS processes is adopted. We report the utilization of electro-optic modulator for a fast scanning optical delay line for time domain optical coherence tomography. Design optimization are performed using Tanner EDA while simulations are performed using COMSOL. The paper summarizes various results and fabrication methodology adopted. The success of the device promises a future hand-held or endoscopic optical coherence tomography for biomedical applications.

The development of an effective system to monitor the changes in the elastic properties of cartilage tissue with increasing temperature in laser reconstruction is an urgent practical task. In this paper, the use of phase-sensitive optical coherence elastography for detection of elastic waves in the sample has allowed Young's modulus of cartilage tissue to be measured directly during heating. Young's modulus was calculated from the group velocity of propagation of elastic waves excited by means of a system supplying focused air pulses. The measurement results are in agreement with the results of measurements of the modulus of elasticity ...

An analogy between spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD OCT) data and broadband digital holography data is considered. Based on this analogy, a method for processing SD OCT data, which makes it possible to construct images with a lateral resolution in the whole investigated volume equal to the resolution in the in-focus region, is developed. Several issues concerning practical application of the proposed method are discussed.

We demonstrate volumetric cutaneous microangiography of the human skin in vivo that utilises 1.3-μm high-speed sweptsource optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT). The swept source is based on a micro-electro-mechanical (MEMS)-tunable vertical cavity surface emission laser (VCSEL) that is advantageous in terms of long coherence length over 50 mm and 100 nm spectral bandwidth, which enables the visualisation of microstructures within a few mm from the skin surface. We show that the skin microvasculature can be delineated in 3D SS-OCT images using ultrahigh-sensitive optical microangiography (UHS-OMAG) with a correlation mapping mask, providing a contrast enhanced blood perfusion map with ...

The combined application of optical coherence tomography, Raman and autofluorescence spectroscopy of biotissues for the analysis of human malignant neoplasms is demonstrated. Rapid investigation of vast biotissue regions (at the scale of entire organs) is possible using the autofluorescence response. After selection of possible zones of pathologies one can visualise the neoplasm topology in the zone of interest with micron precision by using optical coherence tomography. In the case of suspecting the malignancy the analysis of the biotissue Raman spectrum is carried out that allows identification of the neoplasm type with the sensitivity and specificity ~85%. An experimental scheme is ...

`All of optics is Fourier optics!' While this statement may not be literally true, when there is one basic mathematical tool to explain light propagation and image formation, with both coherent and incoherent light, as well as thousands of practical everyday applications of the fundamentals, Fourier optics is worth studying. This book contains summaries of the principles of Fourier optics that have been developed over the past hundred years and of many applications over the past fifty years, especially since the invention of the laser. This book is intended as a series of guideposts to improve our world through the ...

Current technique for tumor resection requires biopsy of the tumor region and histological confirmation before the surgeon can be certain that the entire tumor has been resected. This confirmation process is time consuming both for the surgeon and the patient and also requires sacrifice of healthy tissue, motivating the development of novel technologies which can enable real-time detection of tumor-healthy tissue boundary for faster and more efficient surgeries. In this study, the potential of combining structural information from optical coherence tomography (OCT) and molecular information from line-scan Raman microscopy (LSRM) for such an application is presented. The results show a ...

A robust model for simulating speckle-pattern evolution in optical coherence tomography (OCT) depending on the OCT system parameters and tissue deformation is reported. The model is based on the application of close to reality procedures used in spectral-domain OCT scanners. It naturally generates images reproducing properties of real images in spectral-domain OCT, including the pixelized structure and finite depth of unambiguous imaging, influence of the optical spectrum shape, dependence on the optical wave frequency and coherence length, influence of the tissue straining, etc. Good agreement with generally accepted speckle features and properties of real OCT images is demonstrated.

We have thoroughly investigated the method of simultaneous reception of spectral components with the achromatised quadrature phase shift between two portions of a reference wave, designed for the effective suppression of the 'mirror' artefact in the resulting image obtained by means of spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD OCT). We have developed and experimentally tested a phase-shifting element consisting of a beam divider, which splits the reference optical beam into the two beams, and of delay lines being individual for each beam, which create a mutual phase difference of π/2 in the double pass of the reference beam. The phase ...

We briefly discuss the principle of image formation in Fourier domain optical coherence tomography (OCT). The theory of a new approach to improve dramatically the sensitivity of conventional OCT is described. The approach is based on spectral encoding of spatial frequency. Information about the spatial structure is directly translated from the Fourier domain to the image domain as different wavelengths, without compromising the accuracy. Axial spatial period profiles of the structure are reconstructed for any volume of interest within the 3D OCT image with nanoscale sensitivity. An example of application of the nanoscale OCT to probe the internal structure of ...

A method for obtaining scattering decomposed images in optical coherence tomography based on a multiple scattering model is proposed. Images of different scattering components can be obtained with this method. Employing the proposed method, scattering decomposed images of a biological sample are obtained. Then spatial mean filtering for denoising is performed on only the multiple scattering component, and the total signal is reconstructed. This method is useful for observing the images of different scattering components and has the potential to be applied to information extraction or signal processing on these components separately.

Using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and diffuse reflectance spectra, we investigated the dynamics of titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanoparticles, of different sizes, when penetrating and accumulating in human normal colon tissue (NC) and adenomatous colon tissue (AC). The process of nanoparticle penetration and accumulation in biotissue is accompanied by changes in the optical properties of tissue. Continuous OCT monitoring showed that, after application of TiO 2 nanoparticles, the OCT signal intensities of NC and ac both increase with time, and the larger nanoparticles tend to produce a greater signal enhancement in the same type of tissue. The average attenuation coefficient ...

The microvasculature presents a particular challenge in physiological measurement because the vessel structure is spatially inhomogeneous and perfusion can exhibit high variability over time. This review describes, with a clinical focus, the wide variety of methods now available for imaging of the microvasculature and their key applications. Laser Doppler perfusion imaging and laser speckle contrast imaging are established, commercially-available techniques for determining microvascular perfusion, with proven clinical utility for applications such as burn-depth assessment. Nailfold capillaroscopy is also commercially available, with significant published literature that supports its use for detecting microangiopathy secondary to specific connective tissue diseases in patients with ...