Broadband superluminescent diode-based ultrahigh resolution optical coherence tomography for ophthalmic imaging

Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) with ultrahigh resolution can be used to measure precise structures in the context of ophthalmic imaging. We designed an ultrahigh resolution SD-OCT system based on broadband superluminescent diode (SLD) as the light source. An axial resolution of 2.2 mu m in tissue, a scan depth of 1.48 mm, and a high sensitivity of 93 dB were achieved by the spectrometer designed. The ultrahigh-resolution SD-OCT system was employed to image the human cornea and retina with a cross-section image of 2048 x 2048 pixels. Our research demonstrated that ultrahigh -resolution SD-OCT can be achieved using broadband SLD in a simple way. (C) 2011 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). [DOI: 10.1117/1.3660314]