High-speed and high-sensitivity parallel spectraldomain optical coherence tomography using a supercontinuum light source

Abstract

The three most important metrics in optical coherence tomography (OCT) are resolution, speed, and sensitivity. Because there is a complex interplay between these metrics, no previous work has obtained the best performance in all three metrics simultaneously. We demonstrate that a high-power supercontinuum source, in combination with parallel spectral-domain OCT, achieves an unparalleled combination of resolution, speed, and sensitivity. This system captures cross-sectional images spanning 4 mm × 0.5 mm at 1,024,000 lines/s with 2 × 14 μm resolution (axial × transverse) at a sensitivity of 113 dB. Imaging using the proposed system is demonstrated on highly differentiated human bronchial epithelial cells to capture and spatially localize ciliary dynamics.

Publication Title

Optics Letters

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