Depth-encoded all-fiber swept source polarization sensitive OCT

A Proposal to Perform High Contrast Imaging of Human Palatine Tonsil with Cross Polarized Optical Coherence Tomography

The palatine tonsils provide the first line of immune defense against foreign pathogens inhaled or ingested. However, a disruption in the epithelial layer within the tonsil crypts can lead to recurrent acute tonsillitis (RAT). Current imaging techniques suffer from poor resolution and contrast and do not allow a classification of the severity of RAT. We have developed a cross-polarized optical coherence tomography system. The system can detect a change in the polarization of the light after the light-tissue interaction. We demonstrate improved resolution and contrast in tonsil imaging with the developed method. Intensity, as well as retardance images of the excised tonsil tissue, were acquired. Features such as crypt epithelium, lymphoid follicles, and dense connective tissue were observed with improved contrast. Cross polarized optical coherence tomography can be a valuable tool in the clinic to evaluate palatine tonsils as it would allow visualizing common tonsil features without the need for any external contrast agent.

Analysis and reduction of noise-induced depolarization in catheter based polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography

In catheter based polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT), a optical fiber with a rapid rotation in the catheter can cause low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), polarization state instability, phase change of PS-OCT signals and then heavy noise-induced depolarization, which has a strong impact on the phase retardation measurement of the sample. In this paper, we analyze the noise-induced depolarization and find that the effect of depolarization can be reduced by polar decomposition after incoherent averaging in the Mueller matrix averaging (MMA) method. Namely, MMA can reduce impact of noise on phase retardation mapping. We present a Monte Carlo method based on PS-OCT to numerically describe noise-induced depolarization effect and contrast phase retardation imaging results by MMA and Jones matrix averaging (JMA) methods. The peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR) of simulated images processed by MMA is higher than about 8.9 dB than that processed by JMA. We also implement experiments of multiple biological tissues using the catheter based PS-OCT system. From the simulation and experimental results, we find the polarization contrasts processed by the MMA are better than those by JMA, especially at areas with high depolarization, because the MMA can reduce effect of noise-induced depolarization on the phase retardation measurement.

Cross-Polarized Optical Coherence Tomography System with Unpolarized Light

Cross-polarized optical coherence tomography offers improved contrast for samples which can alter the polarization of light when it interacts with the sample. This property has been utilized to screen pathological conditions in several organs. Existing cross-polarized optical coherence tomography systems require several polarization-controlling elements to minimize the optical fiber movement-related image artifacts. In this work, we demonstrate a cross-polarized optical coherence tomography system using unpolarized light and only two quarter-wave plates, which is free from fiber-induced image artifacts. The simplicity of the approach will find many applications in clinical settings.

Deep imaging with 1.3 µm dual-axis optical coherence tomography and an enhanced depth of focus

For many clinical applications, such as dermatology, optical coherence tomography (OCT) suffers from limited penetration depth due primarily to the highly scattering nature of biological tissues. Here, we present a novel implementation of dual-axis optical coherence tomography (DA-OCT) that offers improved depth penetration in skin imaging at 1.3 µm compared to conventional OCT. Several unique aspects of DA-OCT are examined here, including the requirements for scattering properties to realize the improvement and the limited depth of focus (DOF) inherent to the technique. To overcome this limitation, our approach uses a tunable lens to coordinate focal plane selection with image acquisition to create an enhanced DOF for DA-OCT. This improvement in penetration depth is quantified experimentally against conventional on-axis OCT using tissue phantoms and mouse skin. The results presented here suggest the potential use of DA-OCT in situations where a high degree of scattering limits depth penetration in OCT imaging.

Input polarization-independent polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography using a depolarizer

Polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography is gaining attention because of its ability to diagnose certain pathological conditions at an early stage. The majority of polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography systems require a polarization controller and a polarizer to obtain the optimal polarization state of the light at the sample. Such systems are prone to misalignment since any movement of the optical fiber normally coupled to the light source will change the polarization state of the incident beam. We propose and demonstrate an input polarization-independent polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography system using a depolarizer that works for any input polarization state of the light source. The change in the optical power at the sample for arbitrary input polarized light for the standard polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography system was found to be approximately 84% compared to 9% for our proposed method. The developed system was used to measure the retardance and optical axis orientation of a quarter-wave plate and the obtained values matched closely to the expectation. To further demonstrate the capability of measuring the birefringent properties of biological samples, we also imaged the nail bed. We believe that the proposed system is a robust polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography system and that it will improve the diagnostic capabilities in clinical settings.

Assessing the progression of systemic sclerosis by monitoring the tissue optic axis using PS-OCT

The clinical assessment of fibrosis is critical to the diagnosis and management of patients with systemic sclerosis. Current clinical standards for patient assessment is to use skin fibrosis as an indicator of organ involvement, though this approach is highly subjective and relies on manual palpation. The development of a new method for accurately quantifying collagen content may therefore significantly improve the accuracy of the traditional skin score in patients with systemic sclerosis and may additionally aid in the monitoring of anti-fibrotic therapies in clinical practice. Polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) is a high-speed volumetric imaging modality that can be used to assess birefringent tissues including collagen. In this work we demonstrate a novel computational approach using PS-OCT for the assessment of fibrosis. This approach, based on the measured distribution of optic axis values associated with a given volume of collagen orientation, characterizes fibrotic changes independently from the depth of the region of interest in the tissue. This approach has the potential to accurately quantify collagen content and orientation faster and more robustly compared to traditional PS-OCT metrics. We investigate the viability of this approach for assessing the development of fibrosis in a bleomycin induced skin fibrosis mouse model.

Polarization-sensitive optical coherence elastography

Polarization-sensitive optical coherence elastography (PS-OCE) is developed for improved tissue discrimination. It integrates Jones matrix-based PS-optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) with compression OCE. The method simultaneously measures the OCT intensity, attenuation coefficient, birefringence, and microstructural deformation (MSD) induced by tissue compression. Ex vivo porcine aorta and esophagus tissues were investigated by PS-OCE and histological imaging. The tissue properties measured by PS-OCE are shown as cross-sectional images and a three-dimensional (3-D) depth-trajectory plot. In this trajectory plot, the average attenuation coefficient, birefringence, and MSD were computed at each depth, and the trajectory in the depth direction was plotted in a 3-D feature space of these three properties. The tissue boundaries in a histological image corresponded with the depth-trajectory inflection points. Histogram analysis and t-distributed stochastic neighbour embedding (t-SNE) visualization of the three tissue properties indicated that the PS-OCE measurements provide sufficient information to discriminate porcine esophagus tissues.

Dual-Channel Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography Based on a Single Spectrometer Using Compressive Sensing

Dual-channel spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) is one of the effective methods for improving imaging depth and imaging speed. In this paper, we design a dual-channel SD-OCT system based on a single spectrometer that can operate in two modes: (1) Increasing imaging speed and (2) expanding imaging depth. An optical path offset is preintroduced between the two channels to separate the two-channel data. However, this offset increases the requirement for the spectral resolution of the spectrometer in mode (1), so compressive sensing (CS) technology is used herein to overcome this problem. Consequently, in mode (1), when the spectral resolution of the spectrometer is the same as that used in the single-channel system, we use a dual-channel SD-OCT system combined with CS technology to double the imaging speed. In mode (2), when the spectral resolution of the spectrometer is only half of that used in a single-channel system, the imaging depth can be nearly doubled. We demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the method proposed in this work by imaging a mirror, a fish fin, a fish eye, and an onion.

Attenuation of stripe artifacts in optical coherence tomography images through wavelet-FFT filtering

The use of polarization-maintaining (PM) fibers for polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) can result in numerous image artifacts which degrade the reliability of birefringence measurements. Similar artifacts can also arise in conventional OCT, due to stray reflections from optical surfaces, a problem which is increasing in tandem with the steady rise in source coherence lengths. Here, a recently presented wavelet-FFT filter[Opt. Express17(10), 8567 (2009).] is combined with surface flattening displacement fields in order to suppress ghost artifacts following either a duplicate or inverse profile to that of the sample surface. In addition, horizontal coherence stripes originating from Fresnel reflections of optical components are suppressed in order to facilitate accurate surface detection. The result is an improved visualization of the phase-retardance profile within tissue, which may improve the reliability of curve-fitting methods for localized birefringence estimation. While the results are presented with a focus towards PS-OCT, the filtering method can also be applied to the removal of stray reflection artifacts in conventional OCT images.

Catheter-Based Polarization Sensitive Optical Coherence Tomography Using Similar Mueller Matrix Method

OBJECTIVE

Research of catheter-based polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) is a challenging field. In this paper, we present a new polarization determination method, similar Mueller matrix (SMM) method, for a catheter-based PS-OCT system using a standard clinical catheter probe with an outer diameter of 0.9 mm.

METHODS

The SMM method can remove the diattenuation and depolarization compositions by polar decomposition. By constructing the similarity between the measured Mueller matrices and sample matrices, the phase retardance of the sample can be determined from the trace of the measured matrices.

RESULTS

In the experiments, we find that images processed by the SMM method without any averaging or phase correction have a better polarization contrast of multiple biological tissues than those by the Jones matrix based method. We also preliminarily achieve phase retardance imaging of the ex vivo porcine cardiac blood vessel.

CONCLUSION

Compared with the Jones matrix based method, the presented SMM method can provide a more robust birefringence imaging of biological tissues under low signal-to-noise ratio, depolarization, diattenuation, and phase instability.

SIGNIFICANCE

The SMM method has a potential to become a widely accepted polarization determination method for catheter-based PS-OCT.

Depth-resolved birefringence imaging of collagen fiber organization in the human oral mucosa in vivo

Stromal collagen organization has been identified as a potential prognostic indicator in a variety of cancers and other diseases accompanied by fibrosis. Changes in the connective tissue are increasingly considered for grading dysplasia and progress of oral squamous cell carcinoma, investigated mainly ex vivo by histopathology. In this study, polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) with local phase retardation imaging is used for the first time to visualize depth-resolved (i.e., local) birefringence of healthy human oral mucosa in vivo. Depth-resolved birefringence is shown to reveal the expected local collagen organization. To demonstrate proof-of-principle, 3D image stacks were acquired at labial and lingual locations of the oral mucosa, chosen as those most commonly affected by cancerous alterations. To enable an intuitive evaluation of the birefringence images suitable for clinical application, color depth-encoded en-face projections were generated. Compared to en-face views of intensity or conventional cumulative phase retardation, we show that this novel approach offers improved visualization of the mucosal connective tissue layer in general, and reveals the collagen fiber architecture in particular. This study provides the basis for future prospective pathological and comparative in vivo studies non-invasively assessing stromal changes in conspicuous and cancerous oral lesions at different stages.

Spectrally encoded coherence tomography and reflectometry: Simultaneous en face and cross-sectional imaging at 2 gigapixels per second

Non-invasive biological imaging is crucial for understanding in vivo structure and function. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and reflectance confocal microscopy are two of the most widely used optical modalities for exogenous contrast-free, high-resolution, three-dimensional imaging in non-fluorescent scattering tissues. However, sample motion remains a critical barrier to raster-scanned acquisition and reconstruction of wide-field anatomically accurate volumetric datasets. We introduce spectrally encoded coherence tomography and reflectometry (SECTR), a high-speed, multimodality system for simultaneous OCT and spectrally encoded reflectance (SER) imaging. SECTR utilizes a robust system design consisting of shared optical relays, scanning mirrors, swept laser and digitizer to achieve the fastest reported in vivo multimodal imaging rate of 2 gigapixels per second. Our optical design and acquisition scheme enable spatiotemporally co-registered acquisition of OCT cross-sections simultaneously with en face SER images for multivolumetric mosaicking. Complementary axial and lateral translation and rotation are extracted from OCT and SER data, respectively, for full volumetric estimation of sample motion with micron spatial and millisecond temporal resolution.

Spectrally encoded coherence tomography and reflectometry: Simultaneous en face and cross-sectional imaging at 2 gigapixels per second

Non-invasive biological imaging is crucial for understanding in vivo structure and function. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and reflectance confocal microscopy are two of the most widely used optical modalities for exogenous contrast-free, high-resolution, three-dimensional imaging in non-fluorescent scattering tissues. However, sample motion remains a critical barrier to raster-scanned acquisition and reconstruction of wide-field anatomically accurate volumetric datasets. We introduce spectrally encoded coherence tomography and reflectometry (SECTR), a high-speed, multimodality system for simultaneous OCT and spectrally encoded reflectance (SER) imaging. SECTR utilizes a robust system design consisting of shared optical relays, scanning mirrors, swept laser and digitizer to achieve the fastest reported in vivo multimodal imaging rate of 2 gigapixels per second. Our optical design and acquisition scheme enable spatiotemporally co-registered acquisition of OCT cross-sections simultaneously with en face SER images for multivolumetric mosaicking. Complementary axial and lateral translation and rotation are extracted from OCT and SER data, respectively, for full volumetric estimation of sample motion with micron spatial and millisecond temporal resolution.

Polarization-multiplexed, dual-beam swept source optical coherence tomography angiography

A polarization-multiplexed, dual-beam setup is proposed to expand the field of view (FOV) for a swept source optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) system. This method used a Wollaston prism to split sample path light into 2 orthogonal-polarized beams. This allowed 2 beams to shine on the cornea at an angle separation of ~14°, which led to a separation of ~4.2 mm on the retina. A 3-mm glass plate was inserted into one of the beam paths to set a constant path length difference between the 2 polarized beams so the interferogram from the 2 beams are coded at different frequency bands. The resulting OCTA images from the 2 beams were coded with a depth separation of ~2 mm. A total of 5 × 5 mm² angiograms from the 2 beams were obtained simultaneously in 4 seconds. The 2 angiograms then were montaged to get a wider FOV of ~5 × 9.2 mm² .

Optical coherence tomography in gastroenterology: a review and future outlook

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an imaging technique optically analogous to ultrasound that can generate depth-resolved images with micrometer-scale resolution. Advances in fiber optics and miniaturized actuation technologies allow OCT imaging of the human body and further expand OCT utilization in applications including but not limited to cardiology and gastroenterology. This review article provides an overview of current OCT development and its clinical utility in the gastrointestinal tract, including disease detection/differentiation and endoscopic therapy guidance, as well as a discussion of its future applications.

Extended axial imaging range, widefield swept source optical coherence tomography angiography

We developed a high-speed, swept source OCT system for widefield OCT angiography (OCTA) imaging. The system has an extended axial imaging range of 6.6 mm. An electrical lens is used for fast, automatic focusing. The recently developed split-spectrum amplitude and phase-gradient angiography allow high-resolution OCTA imaging with only two B-scan repetitions. An improved post-processing algorithm effectively removed trigger jitter artifacts and reduced noise in the flow signal. We demonstrated high contrast 3 mm×3 mm OCTA image with 400×400 pixels acquired in 3 seconds and high-definition 8 mm×6 mm and 12 mm×6 mm OCTA images with 850×400 pixels obtained in 4 seconds. A widefield 8 mm×11 mm OCTA image is produced by montaging two 8 mm×6 mm scans. An ultra-widefield (with a maximum of 22 mm along both vertical and horizontal directions) capillary-resolution OCTA image is obtained by montaging six 12 mm×6 mm scans.

Assessment of the radiofrequency ablation dynamics of esophageal tissue with optical coherence tomography

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is widely used for the eradication of dysplasia and the treatment of early stage esophageal carcinoma in patients with Barrett’s esophagus (BE). However, there are several factors, such as variation of BE epithelium (EP) thickness among individual patients and varying RFA catheter-tissue contact, which may compromise RFA efficacy. We used a high-speed optical coherence tomography (OCT) system to identify and monitor changes in the esophageal tissue architecture from RFA. Two different OCT imaging/RFA application protocols were performed using an <italic<ex vivo</italic< swine esophagus model: (1) post-RFA volumetric OCT imaging for quantitative analysis of the coagulum formation using RFA applications with different energy settings, and (2) M-mode OCT imaging for monitoring the dynamics of tissue architectural changes in real time during RFA application. Post-RFA volumetric OCT measurements showed an increase in the coagulum thickness with respect to the increasing RFA energies. Using a subset of the specimens, OCT measurements of coagulum and coagulum + residual EP thickness were shown to agree with histology, which accounted for specimen shrinkage during histological processing. In addition, we demonstrated the feasibility of OCT for real-time visualization of the architectural changes during RFA application with different energy settings. Results suggest feasibility of using OCT for RFA treatment planning and guidance.

Depth-encoded optical coherence elastography for simultaneous volumetric imaging of two tissue faces

Depth-encoded optical coherence elastography (OCE) enables simultaneous acquisition of two three-dimensional (3D) elastograms from opposite sides of a sample. By the choice of suitable path-length differences in each of two interferometers, the detected carrier frequencies are separated, allowing depth-ranging from each interferometer to be performed simultaneously using a single spectrometer. We demonstrate depth-encoded OCE on a silicone phantom and a freshly excised sample of mouse liver. This technique minimizes the required spectral detection hardware and halves the total scan time. Depth-encoded OCE may expedite clinical translation in time-sensitive applications requiring rapid 3D imaging of multiple tissue surfaces, such as tumor margin assessment in breast-conserving surgery.

Handheld optical coherence tomography angiography

We developed a handheld optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) system using a 100-kHz swept-source laser. The handheld probe weighs 0.4 kg and measures 20.6 × 12.8 × 4.6 cm³. The system has dedicated features for handheld operation. The probe is equipped with a mini iris camera for easy alignment. Real-time display of the en face OCT and cross-sectional OCT images in the system allows accurately locating the imaging target. Fast automatic focusing was achieved by an electrically tunable lens controlled by a golden-section search algorithm. An extended axial imaging range of 6 mm allows easy alignment. A registration algorithm using cross-correlation to register adjacent OCT B-frames with propagation from the central frame was used to effectively minimize motion artifacts in volumetric OCTA images captured in relatively short durations of 1 and 2.1 seconds. 2.5 × 2.5 mm (200 × 200 pixels) and 3.5 × 3.5 mm (300 × 300 pixels) retinal angiograms were demonstrated on two awake adult human subjects without the use of any mydriatic eye drops.

Three-dimensional multi-contrast imaging of in vivo human skin by Jones matrix optical coherence tomography

A custom made dermatological Jones matrix optical coherence tomography (JM-OCT) is presented. It uses a passive-polarization-delay component based swept-source JM-OCT configuration, but is specially designed for in vivo human skin measurement. The center wavelength of its probe beam is 1310 nm and the A-line rate is 49.6 kHz. The JM-OCT is capable of simultaneously providing birefringence (local retardation) tomography, degree-of-polarization-uniformity tomography, complex-correlation-based optical coherence angiography, and conventional scattering OCT. To evaluate the performance of this JM-OCT, we measured in vivo human skin at several locations. Using the four kinds of OCT contrasts, the morphological characteristics and optical properties of different skin types were visualized.

Polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography - a review [Invited]

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is now a well-established modality for high-resolution cross-sectional and three-dimensional imaging of transparent and translucent samples and tissues. Conventional, intensity based OCT, however, does not provide a tissue-specific contrast, causing an ambiguity with image interpretation in several cases. Polarization sensitive (PS) OCT draws advantage from the fact that several materials and tissues can change the light's polarization state, adding an additional contrast channel and providing quantitative information. In this paper, we review basic and advanced methods of PS-OCT and demonstrate its use in selected biomedical applications.

Estimation of Jones matrix, birefringence and entropy using Cloude-Pottier decomposition in polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography

Estimation of polarimetric parameters has been a fundamental issue to assess biological tissues that have form birefringence or polarization scrambling in polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT). We present a mathematical framework to provide a maximum likelihood estimation of the target covariance matrix and its incoherent target decomposition to estimate a Jones matrix of a dominant scattering mechanism, called Cloude-Pottier decomposition, thereby deriving the phase retardation and the optic axis of the sample. In addition, we introduce entropy that shows the randomness of the polarization property. Underestimation of the entropy at a low sampling number is mitigated by asymptotic quasi maximum likelihood estimator. A bias of the entropy from random noises is corrected to show only the polarization property inherent in the sample. The theory is validated with experimental measurements of a glass plate and waveplates, and applied to the imaging of a healthy human eye anterior segment as an image filter.

Deep tissue volume imaging of birefringence through fibre-optic needle probes for the delineation of breast tumour

Identifying tumour margins during breast-conserving surgeries is a persistent challenge. We have previously developed miniature needle probes that could enable intraoperative volume imaging with optical coherence tomography. In many situations, however, scattering contrast alone is insufficient to clearly identify and delineate malignant regions. Additional polarization-sensitive measurements provide the means to assess birefringence, which is elevated in oriented collagen fibres and may offer an intrinsic biomarker to differentiate tumour from benign tissue. Here, we performed polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography through miniature imaging needles and developed an algorithm to efficiently reconstruct images of the depth-resolved tissue birefringence free of artefacts. First ex vivo imaging of breast tumour samples revealed excellent contrast between lowly birefringent malignant regions, and stromal tissue, which is rich in oriented collagen and exhibits higher birefringence, as confirmed with co-located histology. The ability to clearly differentiate between tumour and uninvolved stroma based on intrinsic contrast could prove decisive for the intraoperative assessment of tumour margins.

Noise-immune complex correlation for optical coherence angiography based on standard and Jones matrix optical coherence tomography

This paper describes a complex correlation mapping algorithm for optical coherence angiography (cmOCA). The proposed algorithm avoids the signal-to-noise ratio dependence and exhibits low noise in vasculature imaging. The complex correlation coefficient of the signals, rather than that of the measured data are estimated, and two-step averaging is introduced. Algorithms of motion artifact removal based on non perfusing tissue detection using correlation are developed. The algorithms are implemented with Jones-matrix OCT. Simultaneous imaging of pigmented tissue and vasculature is also achieved using degree of polarization uniformity imaging with cmOCA. An application of cmOCA to in vivo posterior human eyes is presented to demonstrate that high-contrast images of patients' eyes can be obtained.

Polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography system tolerant to fiber disturbances using a line camera

This Letter presents a spectral-domain, polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) system, where the light collection from the two arms of the interferometer is performed exclusively using single-mode fibers and couplers, and the two orthogonal polarization components are sequentially detected by a single line camera. Retardance measurements can be affected by polarimetric effects because of fiber birefringence and diattenuation in fiber couplers. This configuration bypasses such issues by performing polarization selection before the collection fiber through the combination of a polarization rotator and a linear polarizer. Retardance calibration is achieved with a Berek compensator. Similar net retardance maps of a birefringent phantom are obtained for two different settings of induced fiber birefringence, effectively demonstrating the tolerance of the configuration to fiber-based disturbances.

Silicon photonic integrated circuit swept-source optical coherence tomography receiver with dual polarization, dual balanced, in-phase and quadrature detection

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a widely used three-dimensional (3D) optical imaging method with many biomedical and non-medical applications. Miniaturization, cost reduction, and increased functionality of OCT systems will be critical for future emerging clinical applications. We present a silicon photonic integrated circuit swept-source OCT (SS-OCT) coherent receiver with dual polarization, dual balanced, in-phase and quadrature (IQ) detection. We demonstrate multiple functional capabilities of IQ polarization resolved detection including: complex-conjugate suppressed full-range OCT, polarization diversity detection, and polarization-sensitive OCT. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a silicon photonic integrated receiver for OCT. The integrated coherent receiver provides a miniaturized, low-cost solution for SS-OCT, and is also a key step towards a fully integrated high speed SS-OCT system with good performance and multi-functional capabilities. With further performance improvement and cost reduction, photonic integrated technology promises to greatly increase penetration of OCT systems in existing applications and enable new applications.

Wide-field in vivo oral OCT imaging

We have built a polarization-sensitive swept source Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) instrument capable of wide-field in vivo imaging in the oral cavity. This instrument uses a hand-held side-looking fiber-optic rotary pullback catheter that can cover two dimensional tissue imaging fields approximately 2.5 mm wide by up to 90 mm length in a single image acquisition. The catheter spins at 100 Hz with pullback speeds up to 15 mm/s allowing imaging of areas up to 225 mm(2) field-of-view in seconds. A catheter sheath and two optional catheter sheath holders have been designed to allow imaging at all locations within the oral cavity. Image quality of 2-dimensional image slices through the data can be greatly enhanced by averaging over the orthogonal dimension to reduce speckle. Initial in vivo imaging results reveal a wide-field view of features such as epithelial thickness and continuity of the basement membrane that may be useful in clinic for chair-side management of oral lesions.

Polarization-sensitive interleaved optical coherence tomography

We introduce a new strategy for single-mode fiber based polarization-sensitive (PS-) optical coherence tomography (OCT) using orthogonally polarized optical frequency combs (OFC) in the sample arm. The two OFCs are tuned to be interleaved in the spectral domain, permitting simultaneous measurement of both polarization states from the same spatial region C close to the location of zero pathlength delay. The two polarization states of the beam in the sample arm are demultiplexed by interpolation after performing wavelength stabilization via a two-mirror calibration method. The system uses Jones matrix methods to measure quantitatively the round-trip phase retardation B-scans in the sample. A glass plate and quarter-wave plate were measured to validate the accuracy of the birefringence measurement. Further, we demonstrated the potential of this system for biomedical applications by measurement of chicken breast muscle.

Quantitative single-mode fiber based PS-OCT with single input polarization state using Mueller matrix

We present a simple but effective method to quantitatively measure the birefringence of tissue by an all single-mode fiber (SMF) based polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) with single input polarization state. We theoretically verify that our SMF based PS-OCT system can quantify the phase retardance and optic axis orientation after a simple calibration process using a quarter wave plate (QWP). Based on the proposed method, the quantification of the phase retardance and optic axis orientation of a Berek polarization compensator and biological tissues were demonstrated.

Polarization sensitive optical frequency domain imaging system for endobronchial imaging

A polarization sensitive endoscopic optical frequency domain imaging (PS-OFDI) system with a motorized distal scanning catheter is demonstrated. It employs a passive polarization delay unit to multiplex two orthogonal probing polarization states in depth, and a polarization diverse detection unit to detect interference signal in two orthogonal polarization channels. Per depth location four electro-magnetic field components are measured that can be represented in a complex 2x2 field matrix. A Jones matrix of the sample is derived and the sample birefringence is extracted by eigenvalue decomposition. The condition of balanced detection and the polarization mode dispersion are quantified. A complex field averaging method based on the alignment of randomly pointing field phasors is developed to reduce speckle noise. The variation of the polarization states incident on the tissue due to the circular scanning and catheter sheath birefringence is investigated. With this system we demonstrated imaging of ex vivo chicken muscle, in vivo pig lung and ex vivo human lung specimens.

Fiber-based polarization-sensitive OCT for birefringence imaging of the anterior eye segment

We demonstrate a prototype system of polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) designed for clinical studies of the anterior eye segment imaging. The system can measure Jones matrices of the sample with depth-multiplexing of two orthogonal incident polarizations and polarization-sensitive detection. An optical clock is generated using a quadrature modulator and a logical circuit to double the clock frequency. Systematic artifacts in measured Jones matrices are theoretically analyzed and numerically compensated using signals at the surface of the sample. Local retardation images of filtering blebs after trabeculectomy show improved visualization of subconjunctival tissue, sclera, and scar tissue of the bleb wall in the anterior eye segment.

Imaging the anterior eye with dynamic-focus swept-source optical coherence tomography

A custom-built dynamic-focus swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) system with a central wavelength of 1310 nm was used to image the anterior eye from the cornea to the lens. An electrically tunable lens was utilized to dynamically control the positions of focusing planes over the imaging range of 10 mm. The B-scan images were acquired consecutively at the same position but with different focus settings. The B-scan images were then registered and averaged after filtering the out-of-focus regions using a Gaussian window. By fusing images obtained at different depth focus locations, high-resolution and high signal-strength images were obtained over the entire imaging depth. In vivo imaging of human anterior segment was demonstrated. The performance of the system was compared with two commercial OCT systems. The human eye ciliary body was better visualized with the dynamic-focusing SS-OCT system than using the commercial 840 and 1310 nm OCT systems. The sulcus-to-sulcus distance was measured, and the result agreed with that acquired with ultrasound biomicroscopy

Optically buffered Jones-matrix-based multifunctional optical coherence tomography with polarization mode dispersion correction

Polarization mode dispersion (PMD) degrades the performance of Jones-matrix-based polarization-sensitive multifunctional optical coherence tomography (JM-OCT). The problem is specially acute for optically buffered JM-OCT, because the long fiber in the optical buffering module induces a large amount of PMD. This paper aims at presenting a method to correct the effect of PMD in JM-OCT. We first mathematically model the PMD in JM-OCT and then derive a method to correct the PMD. This method is a combination of simple hardware modification and subsequent software correction. The hardware modification is introduction of two polarizers which transform the PMD into global complex modulation of Jones matrix. Subsequently, the software correction demodulates the global modulation. The method is validated with an experimentally obtained point spread function with a mirror sample, as well as by in vivo measurement of a human retina.

Multimodal Imaging Spectroscopy of Tissue

Advanced optical imaging technologies have experienced increased visibility in medical research, as they allow for a label-free and nondestructive investigation of tissue in either an excised state or living organisms. In addition to a multitude of ex vivo studies proving the applicability of these optical imaging approaches, a transfer of various modalities toward in vivo diagnosis is currently in progress as well. Furthermore, combining optical imaging techniques, referred to as multimodal imaging, allows for an improved diagnostic reliability due to the complementary nature of retrieved information. In this review, we provide a summary of ongoing multifold efforts in multimodal tissue imaging and focus in particular on in vivo applications for medical diagnosis. We also discuss the advantages and potential limitations of the imaging methods and outline opportunities for future developments.