Optical coherence tomography: Technology and Applications

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has recently emerged as a powerful optical imaging instrument and technology. OCT performs high resolution, cross-sectional tomographic imaging of the internal structure in 3D materials including biological tissues. Advantages of OCT vs. other imaging systems are: 1) High resolution: enables greater visualization of defects. (OCT: 5-10 microns, ultrasound: 150 microns. High resolution CT: 300 microns. MRI: 1,000 microns). 2) Noninvasive, non-contact: increase ease of use. 3) Fiber-optics delivery: allows OCT to be used in catheters and endoscopes. (Fiber diameter is normally 125 microns). 4) High speed: enables high-resolution 3D imaging. 5) Potential for additional information: polarization contrast and spectroscopic information can be obtained concurrently yielding new information of the testing tissues. 6) Use of non-harmful radiation. In this paper, we shortly review the technologies of OCT and present our works in design and implementation of fiber based OCT systems and full-field OCT systems, including high performance swept source, fibre probe, hardware, software design as well as system configurations. The applications of OCT involving in medical imaging, industrial inspection, information storage and retrieval, as well as biometrics and document security are also briefly introduced and demonstrated.