Abstract
Optical coherence tomography is an imaging technique to allow non-invasive cross-sectional observations of micro-scale structures inside sample [1]. Typically, OCT systems are operated at 800-1300 nm spectral window, and the axial resolution is several to 15 μm, which is much higher than that of standard ultrasound imaging techniques. However, the penetration depth is restricted by the attenuation of ballistic light propagation via scattering and absorption by sample itself. For biomedical studies, it is important to improve the imaging depth as well as the spatial resolution, because observation targets are usually thick and it is often required to observe detailed structures below the sample surface to understand the life phenomena. The improvement of the penetration depth of OCT in water-rich biological samples is achieved by using longer wavelength such as 1600-1700 nm, because of the lower scattering coefficient and moderate water absorption loss at the wavelength range [2, 3]. 1550 and 1800 nm spectral bands also offer the comparable penetration depth with that in 1300 nm OCT system [4, 5]. In our group, we recently developed the high power, ultrabroad supercontinuum (SC) source in 1700 nm spectral band, and demonstrated ultrahigh-resolution (UHR) OCT imaging with the improved penetration depth [6, 7]. As described here, 1550-1800 nm spectral band is a good candidate for OCT imaging with high penetration depth.
© 2015 Japan Society of Applied Physics, Optical Society of America
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