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Three-dimensional and C-mode OCT imaging with a compact, frequency swept laser source at 1300 nm

R. Huber, M. Wojtkowski, J. G. Fujimoto, J. Y. Jiang, and A. E. Cable

Open Access Open Access

Abstract

We demonstrate high resolution, three-dimensional OCT imaging with a high speed, frequency swept 1300 nm laser source. A new external cavity semiconductor laser design, optimized for application to swept source OCT, is discussed. The design of the laser enables adjustment of an internal spectral filter to change the filter bandwidth and provides a robust bulk optics design. The laser generates ~30 mW instantaneous peak power at an effective 16 kHz sweep rate with a tuning range of ~133 nm full width. In frequency domain reflectometry and OCT applications, 109 dB sensitivity and ~10 μm axial resolution in tissue can be achieved with the swept laser. The high imaging speeds enable three-dimensional OCT imaging, including zone focusing or C-mode imaging and image fusion to acquire large depth of field data sets with high resolution. In addition, three-dimensional OCT data provides coherence gated en face images similar to optical coherence microscopy (OCM) and also enables the generation of images similar to confocal microscopy by summing signals in the axial direction. High speed, three-dimensional OCT imaging can provide comprehensive data which combines the advantages of optical coherence tomography and microscopy in a single system.

©2005 Optical Society of America

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Media 2: MOV (2453 KB)     
Media 3: MOV (1682 KB)     

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Figures (13)
Fig. 1.
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the high speed, frequency swept laser system. The resonant scanner and grating assembly sweep the various wavelengths across the reflective slit, thereby tuning the laser while maintaining a constant cavity length.

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Fig. 2.
Fig. 2. Amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) spectrum of the cavity at an injection current below the laser threshold, showing the approximate filter function provided by the grating, slit and end mirror.

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Fig. 3.
Fig. 3. Output power vs. injection current of the laser. The laser threshold is 63 mA at a diode temperature of 22 °C.

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Fig. 4.
Fig. 4. Dual balanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer for the generation of a clock signal.

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Fig. 5.
Fig. 5. Schematic of the swept source OCT system using C-mode scanning (optics: blue; electronics: green).

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Fig. 6.
Fig. 6. Left: Transient intensity profile of the sweep for a forward and a backward scan. Right: Integrated spectrum of swept laser source.

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Fig. 7.
Fig. 7. Left: Point spread function (PSF) in OCT application for a forward scan - resolution in air 16 μm (FWHM of amplitude) corresponding to 12 μm in tissue. Right: PSF for a backward scan - resolution in air 12 μm (FWHM of amplitude) corresponding to 9 μm in tissue.

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Fig. 8.
Fig. 8. Measured PSFs in OCT application on a logarithmic scale for different delays relative to the reference arm length. The scale is adjusted by a constant such that the peak values reflect the sensitivity values at the different depth positions. Left: PSFs for backward scans. Right: PSFs for forward scans.

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Fig. 9.
Fig. 9. Images of a human finger in vivo (3 mm × 1.5 mm) using forward sweeps only (left) and backward sweeps only (right).

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Fig. 10.
Fig. 10. (2MB movie)Application of high speed, swept source OCT for OCM imaging of African frog (Xenopus laevis) tadpole. Images show the gill region: a. Standard microscope image of the tadpole, the region imaged by OCT is marked as a white square; b. Movie showing consecutive en face images reconstructed from a three-dimensional OCT data set (6MB version); c. OCT “confocal” image obtained by integrating en face cross-sectional OCT images in the axial direction. The en face images b and c show a 1 mm × 1 mm field of view.

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Fig. 11.
Fig. 11. C-mode, swept source OCT in vivo imaging of an African frog tadpole (Xenopus laevis) a–d. OCT images recorded with different focal depths; e. OCT “confocal” image obtained by summing of all en face sections in the axial dimension, white line indicates the position of the cross-sectional image that is displayed; f. Cross-sectional OCT image with extended depth of field obtained by fusing images a–d; H-heart and G-gills in the developing tadpole.

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Fig. 12.
Fig. 12. African frog tadpole (Xenopus laevis) in vivo. Small region near the spine. a–d. OCT images with different depths of focus; e. Fused image showing cellular structure.

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Fig. 13.
Fig. 13. (1MB movie) Three-dimensional, volumetric in vivo imaging of an African frog tadpole (Xenopus laevis) using swept source OCT. Left: Four integrated en face OCT projections reconstructed from the three-dimensional OCT data sets measured for four different depths of the focal plane. Right: Movie demonstrating volume rendering of the entire tadpole.

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