In conventional SD-OCT, a beam is focused to one spot on the surface of the sample to acquire depth information beneath that spot. Adjacent spots are serially scanned to obtain a tomographic image of the sample; thus, available OCT techniques can take significant time to scan large objects. This paper illustrates an SD-OCT system involving spectral-slicing of a broadband spectrum to enable the simultaneous acquisition from multiple lateral positions of the sample. Using a wavelength encoding of spatial information, where each lateral location is associated with a specific portion of a source spectrum, multiple lateral spots are interrogated concurrently to ...

In this paper, an angular compounding method to achieve speckle contrast reduction in optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging is explored in detail. The angular compounding approach involves collecting multiple images at different angles of incidence, registering the images to correct for induced distortions, and then incoherently summing the images to reduce speckle. The method was experimentally demonstrated with a spectrometer-based Master-Slave enhanced OCT instrument capable of directly generating en-face images. We have investigated the impact of the angular range and number of averaged frames on the degree of speckle artefact reduction, as well as the effect on image resolution and ...

Intravascular optical coherence tomography (IVOCT) is becoming an important choice for in vivo diagnosis of coronary artery diseases. The atherosclerotic disease can be detected from IVOCT images, but the segmentation of IVOCT images and identification of plaques are mainly performed manually. This process is laborious and time consuming and its accuracy relies on the expertise of the observer. To address these limitations, a semi-automated identification algorithm based on texture features is presented in this paper. Regions of interest (ROIs) in IVOCT images are firstly selected, then texture features are calculated to represent this ROI. Finally, an artificial neural network is ...

Cross polarized optical coherence tomography offers enhanced contrast in certain pathological conditions. Traditional cross-polarized optical coherence tomography systems require a defined input polarization and thus require several polarization controlling elements increasing the overall complexity of the system. Our proposed system requires a single quarter wave plate as a polarization controller thus simplifying the system significantly. Majority of Cross-polarized optical coherence tomography systems are spectrometer based which suffers from slow speed and low signal to noise ratio. In this work, we present a swept source based cross-polarized optical coherence tomography system that works for any input polarization state. The system was ...

This paper reports the development of a new technique, free space line field spectral domain optical coherence reflectometry (LF-SD-OCR), which is able to produce tomographic like (quasi) images. Furthermore, the capabilities and cost benefits of the technique are demonstrated by constructing a handheld LF-SD-OCR device. For glossy paint systems and other suitable samples, the line field format produces quasi-tomographic (cross-sectional) imaging through the layers, with axial and lateral image resolutions of 1.3 µm and 40 µm respectively. From these, the clear coat thicknesses on the bonnet of cars were measured by graph search segmentation and maximum A-scan projection. In ...

This study explores the development of high-speed swept source with a wide imaging range and instantaneous line width. For the swept source in the 1.3-μm band, the sweep rate is 193.25 kHz through the sampling buffer structure, the maximum tuning range is 142.34 nm. Meanwhile, the numerical model of the SS–OCT system is established and the signal in the OCT imaging process is numerically simulated. The influence of the dispersion mismatch point diffusion function on the imaging system is studied. Simulation results provide valuable guidance for the selection of optical components in the SS–OCT ...

The method for visualization of the low-scattering objects inside the bulk of the high-scattering tissue is presented. The method can contrast the low-scattering object of interest not only from the high scattering surroundings but from the noise region below the tissue image as well. The proposed method was applied for the visualization of the rodent and human cochlea volume.

With the demand for high-resolution images, the storage space occupied by the images of the full-field optical coherence tomography (FFOCT) system is becoming more and more intensified. How to reduce the data volume of high-resolution image systems has become a research hotspot in the image processing industry. In particular, precision medicine requires high-resolution images of organs and tissues, and this data storage system requires a large storage space. For this reason, based on the high-resolution tomographic image obtained from our organ tissue, compressed sensing theory is used to perform compression reconstruction simulation. It is verified that the amount of data ...

The degree of coherence of radiation is an important characteristic on which the interference properties of light fields and, as a consequence, the resolution of optical systems depend. When propagating over long distances even in free space, initially completely coherent or incoherent radiation becomes partially coherent. This fact should be taken into account in the formation of optical images along with the influence of wave front aberrations. In this paper, we investigate the change in the resolution of the system for two near-point light sources depending on the degree of spatial coherence in the presence of different aberrations. The possibility ...

Endoscopic optical coherence tomography is an interference based imaging technique which due to its micron level resolution ability found several applications in medical diagnostics. However, the standard image performance suffers from artefacts caused by dispersion imbalance and polarisation mismatches between reference and sample arm. Such artefacts can be minimised with the use of a special class of probes called common path probes where the reference surface is placed in the vicinity of the sample. Previously reported common path probes suffered from a compromise between sensitivity and resolution. In most cases, proposed probes were not scalable for industrial applications and required ...

We present a novel design of all-normal flat near zero dispersion chalcogenide photonics crystal fiber (PCF) for mid-infrared supercontinuum (SC) generation. The proposed PCF with a core made of As₂Se₃ glass and uniform air holes in the cladding is selectively filled with As₂S₅ glass. By carefully engineering the PCF with an all-normal flat near zero dispersion profile, the anomalous-dispersion soliton effects are reduced, enabling broadband highly coherent SC generation. We also investigate the impacts of the pulse parameters on the SC generation. Broadband SCs covering 1 ...

As is generally known, broad-band near-infrared Supercontinuum (SC) is significant for the applications such as pump-probe spectroscopy, nonlinear spectroscopy, frequency combs, or nonlinear optical parametric amplification. We present the first detailed demonstration of approximate near-infrared, octave-spanning SC generation in all-normal dispersion CS2 single-hole liquid core optical fiber (LCOF). By solving the generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation, the SC at different parameters can be calculated. The influence of important parameters including but not limited to fiber core-diameter, pump wavelength, pump power, and pulse width, on the supercontinuum generation (SCG) of CS2 infiltrated LCOF can be analyzed for optimization of near-infrared SC ...

Optical coherence tomography is radiation-free, and it is considered a tool of optical biopsy. Classification of normal and cancerous tissues is very important for the guidance of surgeons. Here, we develop the morphological feature analysis-based classification (MFAC) method, combining it with machine learning to identify cancerous tissues. We extract five quantitative morphological features from one OCT image through the structured analysis. Five classifiers are involved to make a classification: the support vector machine, the K -nearest neighbor, the random forest, logic regression, and the conventional threshold method. Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy are used to evaluate these classifiers and are compared ...

Abstract: We propose a simple method of linearizing spectral interference fringes of spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) based on B-scan Doppler frequency shift (DFS), which can be obtained by offsetting the laser beam from the pivot of a scanning mirror. We show that DFS is proportional to wavenumber. A DFS based calibration curve can be then extracted from either a single mirror image or multiple tissue images. By examining the convergence of the nonlinear coefficients of the DFS curve fitted with a polynomial equation, tissue images themselves can be used to linearize the wavenumber without requiring mirror images or ...

Speckle is a major quality degrading factor in optical coherence tomography (OCT) images. In this work we propose a new deep learning network for speckle reduction in retinal OCT images, termed DeSpecNet. Unlike traditional algorithms, the model can learn from training data instead of manually selecting parameters such as noise level. The proposed deep convolutional neural network (CNN) applies strategies including residual learning, shortcut connection, batch normalization and leaky rectified linear units to achieve good despeckling performance. Application of the proposed method to the OCT images shows great improvement in both visual quality and quantitative indices. The proposed method provides ...

A quantitative spectrometer-based photothermal optical coherence tomography (PT-OCT) system is employed to investigate and image the photothermal trapping of gold nano-rods (GNRs) in clear and biological media. The PT-OCT system is calibrated through dynamic phase measurements of piezo motion with known driving parameters. We measure and compare the displacement sensitivities of the PT-OCT system at different camera exposure time settings in two configurations: with a distinct reference path; and with a common path. The displacement sensitivity of the system in the common path configuration is improved from 1.5 nm to 0.17 nm by performing Fourier analysis on the ...

A full-wave model for simulating images in spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) with rigorous accounting for the beam-focusing effects is developed. Due to the analytical description of beam focusing, the model is computationally rather efficient. It also uses a rigorous numerical summation of the contributions of the localized sub-resolution scatterers, accounting for variations in the phase-amplitude parameters of the incident and backscattered optical waves, with a subsequent integration of the latter over the objective aperture. In the limit of a weakly focused beam, the developed model has allowed for the validatation of the earlier proposed simplified model with a constant-radius ...

Due to improvement in technology of laser diodes, now-a-days these have become an integral part of most of the physics and engineering undergraduate courses. Laser diodes, which generally have low coherence, are extensively used in various educational experiments due to their compactness, easy-to-operate and easy-to-handle as well as cost-effectiveness. Thus, knowledge about coherence length of beams from these laser diodes becomes important while designing experiments using these as light sources. Generally, students find it difficult to measure coherence length with most of the existing techniques. In present work an experimental arrangement using holographic optics is designed and demonstrated to measure ...

A high-speed, depth optical scanner with a longitudinal scan speed of up to and repetition rate of 28.5 kHz was designed. Optical low-coherence reflectometry is used in this non-contacting depth scanning method. A Michelson interferometer uses a glass cube which rotates at a speed of 427 000 rpm as an optical path length variation. Details of the adopted design, the precision glass cube positioning system (tripod), the experimental set-up, and some experimental results are discussed. This technique is especially well suited for biomedical applications in the field of optical tomography of tissues, e.g. skin, retina, etc where motion ...

Manufacturing of microfluidic based diagnostic devices requires small tolerances and uniform quality to guarantee reliable and repeatable test results. This work describes characterization of morphological changes that occur to a hot embossed PMMA microfluidic channel after solvent lamination with a PMMA lid. A non-contact cross-sectional analysis of the lidded microfluidic device was performed by optical coherence tomography (OCT). The solvent induced morphology change led to a porous structure in bottom corners of hot-embossed channels, which allowed a fluid to absorb in the material. The measurements of solvent diffusion showed faster diffusion rate at the corners of the channel, in which ...

Objective: Peripheral nerves serve as a link between the central nervous system and its targets. Altering peripheral nerve activity through targeted electrical stimulation is being investigated as a therapy for modulating end organ function. To support rapid advancement in the field, novel approaches to predict and prevent nerve injury resulting from the electrical stimulation must be developed to overcome the limitations of traditional histological methods. The present study aims to develop an optical imaging-based approach for real-time assessment of peripheral nerve injury associated with electrical stimulation.
 
 Approach: We developed an optical coherence tomography angiography system and a 3-D ...

We developed a near-infrared (NIR) superluminescent diode (SLD) based on self-assembled InAs quantum dots (QDs) and demonstrated high-axial-resolution optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging using this QD-based SLD (QD-SLD). The QD-SLD utilized InAs QDs with controlled emission wavelengths as a NIR broadband light emitter, and a tilted waveguide with segmented electrodes was prepared for edge-emitting broadband electroluminescence (EL) spanning approximately 1–1.3 μm. The bandwidth of the EL spectrum was increased up to 144 nm at a temperature of 25 °C controlled using a thermoelectric cooler. The inverse Fourier transform of the EL spectrum predicted a minimum resolution of 3 ...

The aim of the study was to observe time-related changes in the optical properties of normal brain tissues as measured using cross-polarization optical coherence tomography (CP OCT). 32 ex vivo tissue samples from 16 animals (rats) were monitored under different external conditions, over a period of 1 hour after excision, to measure time-related optical changes. It was found that the optical properties of white matter were quite stable over the time scales of the experiments, while the optical properties of the gray matter could change significantly. However, these changes could be minimized by using fresh sections from samples that had ...

This paper reports on the characterization of a novel multi-channel Optical Coherence Tomography (MC-OCT) method capable of concurrent scanning at multiple sites along the sample arm length of a low coherence interferometer. For this study, a cascade of two wavelength-based beam splitters is used to split the sample arm beam into three channels, forming three imaging (sensing) units. Channel-specific free-space beam paths are introduced in the sample arm to ensure equal optical path lengths amongst the different sensing beams and hence, a single reference reflector is employed for simultaneous interrogation of signals reflected from samples (or from different spots of ...