Fig. 1. Schematic of the Fourier domain optical delay line (view from above). The incident, collimated broadband light is diffracted from the grating and spectrally dispersed. The lens collimates the dispersed spectrum while focusing it to a line on the scanning mirror. The scanning mirror imposes a linear phase ramp on the spectrum and redirects the light back through the lens, which re-collimates the beam and reconverges the spectrum onto the grating. The beam then diffracts in a reverse manner from the grating and propagates towards the double-pass mirror collinear with the incident beam collimated and undispersed. The double-pass mirror returns the light back through an identical path.

Fig. 2. Schematic of the high speed OCT system. The broken red lines represent optical paths and the solid black lines represent electronic paths.

Fig. 3. Recordings (776 KB) of beating Xenopus embryo heart. Images were acquired at 8, 16, and 32 frames per second and recorded directly to SVHS video tape, then clips were recorded to digital format at 30 frames per second. Images are 3 mm horizontally (h) by 2 mm vertically (v). Probe light was incident from the left, i.e. the depth direction is horizontal. Notice the increasing temporal resolution and the decreasing lateral (vertical) image resolution as the frame rate increases. File size was minimized to reduce download time. For optimal viewing, set player to loop mode.

Fig. 4. Recording (137 KB) of human thick skin (fingertip) in vivo with glycerin index matching. The circle indicates sweat ducts which the image slice follows from the epidermis through the stratum corneum to the surface. The images were recorded at 16 frames per second to SVHS video tape, then recorded to digital format at 15 frames per second. Images are 3 mm (h) by 4 mm (v), and 250 pixels (h) by 250 pixels (v). Probe light was incident from the left, i.e. the depth direction is horizontal. File size was minimized to reduce download time. For optimal viewing, set player to loop mode.

Fig. 5. Recording (304 KB) of anterior segment of murine eye. The animal was live, unanesthetized, and held by hand. The image plane moves in the direction normal to the image from one side of the pupil to the other and back. The images were recorded at 16 frames per second to SVHS video tape, then recorded to digital format at 30 frames per second. Images are 3 mm (h) by 4 mm (v), and 250 pixels (h) by 250 pixels (v). Probe light was incident from the left, i.e. the depth direction is horizontal. File size was minimized to reduce download time. For optimal viewing, set player to loop mode.