Microcirculation imaging is a key parameter for studying the pathophysiological processes of various disease conditions, in both clinical and fundamental research. Recently, the functional extension of the OCT technique to image depth-resolved microcirculation has become a very promising area of research. There is a growing interest in the field of development of various types of OCT-based angiographic techniques, which aims to visualize the lumens and architecture of blood vessels in many clinical and fundamental areas of research, including cardiology, dermatology, neurology, ophthalmology, small animal imaging studies, and so forth. OCT-based angiography techniques utilize the red blood cell scattering dynamics as ...

Fingerprint biometrics, including automated fingerprint identification systems (AFIS), currently occupy two-thirds of the biometric market and are expected to remain the dominant player in this area. The technology can be integrated into small, compact devices and the instruments are relatively fast. However, the overall success of using fingerprints for identification and verification purposes greatly depends upon the quality of the fingerprints initially enrolled. For example, fingerprints captured from older people are significantly lower quality than those from younger people due primarily to ridge-wearing and difficulty of interacting effectively with conventional fingerprint scanners. The ramification is that the problem of obtaining ...

We propose the use of correlation mapping optical coherence tomography (cmOCT) to deliver additional biometrics associated with the finger that could complement existing fingerprint technology for law enforcement applications. The current study extends the existing fingerprint paradigm by measuring additional biometrics associated with sub-surface finger tissue such as sub-surface fingerprints, sweat glands, and the pattern of the capillary bed to yield a user-friendly cost effective and anti-spoof multi-mode biometric solution associated with the finger. To our knowledge no other method has been able to capture sub-surface fingerprint, papillary pattern and horizontal vessel pattern in a single scan or to show ...

We present an optical vibrometer based on delay-encoded, dual-beamlet phase-sensitive Fourier domain interferometric system to provide depth-resolved subnanometer scale vibration information from scattering biological specimens. System characterization, calibration, and preliminary vibrometry with biological specimens were performed. The proposed system has the potential to provide both amplitude and direction of vibration of tissue microstructures on a single two-dimensional plane.

Hearing loss is the most frequent sensory deficit in the human population, affecting more than 250 million people in the world. The National Center for Health Statistics estimates that 37 million adults (17%) in the United States have hearing difficulty. Analysis of a large database of audiometric records from the University of Minnesota reveals that 39% of patients diagnosed with hearing loss have conductive hearing loss (CHL) either alone (15%) or in combination with SNHL (24%). There are several contemporary audiological tests that are commonly used to diagnose middle ear function for CHL. However, these contemporary tests of middle ear ...

We describe a functional imaging paradigm that uses photothermal optical coherence tomography (PT-OCT) to detect indocyanine green (ICG)-encapsulated biocompatible poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) nanoparticles embedded in highly scattering tissue phantoms with high resolution and sensitivity. The ICG-loaded PLGA nanoparticles were fabricated using a modified emulsification solvent diffusion method. With a 20 kHz axial scan rate, PT-OCT based on spectral-domain interferometric configuration at 1310 nm was used to detect phase changes induced by a 808 nm photothermal excitation of ICG-encapsulated PLGA nanoparticles. An algorithm based on Fourier transform analysis of differential phase of the spectral interferogram was developed for detecting ...