Gabor fusion master slave optical coherence tomography

Spectral fusing Gabor domain optical coherence microscopy based on FPGA processing

High-resolution imaging using high numerical aperture imaging optics is commonly known to cause a narrow depth of focus, which limits the depth of field in optical coherence tomography (OCT). To achieve semi-invariant high resolution in all directions, Gabor domain optical coherence microscopy (GD-OCM) combines the in-focus regions of multiple cross-sectional images that are acquired while shifting the focal plane of the objective lens. As a result, GD-OCM requires additional processes for in-focus extraction and fusion, leading to longer processing times, as compared with conventional frequency domain OCT (FD-OCT). We previously proposed a method of spectral domain Gabor fusion that has been proven to improve the processing speed of GD-OCM. To investigate the full potential of the spectral domain Gabor fusion technique, we present the implementation of the spectral domain Gabor fusion algorithm using field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) in a spectral acquisition hardware device. All filtering processes are now performed in an acquisition device as opposed to the post-processing of the original GD-OCM, which reduces the amount of data transfer between the image acquisition device and the processing host. To clearly demonstrate the imaging performance of the implemented system, we performed GD-OCM imaging of a stack of polymeric tapes. GD-OCM imaging was performed over seven focus zones. The results showed that the processing time for linear wavenumber calibration and spectral Gabor filtering can be improved with FPGA implementation. The total processing time was improved by about 35%.

Down-conversion en-face optical coherence tomography

We present an optical coherence tomography (OCT) method that can deliver an en-face OCT image from a sample in real-time, irrespective of the tuning speed of the swept source. The method, based on the master slave interferometry technique, implements a coherence gate principle by requiring that the optical path difference (OPD) between the arms of an imaging interferometer is the same with the OPD in an interrogating interferometer. In this way, a real-time en-face OCT image can originate from a depth in the sample placed in the imaging interferometer, selected by actuating on the OPD in the interrogating interferometer, while laterally scanning the incident beam over the sample. The generation of the en-face image resembles time domain OCT, with the difference that here the signal is processed based on spectral domain OCT. The optoelectronic processor operates down-conversion of the chirped radio frequency signal delivered by the photo-detector. The down-conversion factor is equal to the ratio of the maximum frequency of the photo-detected signal due to an OPD value matching the coherence length of the swept source, to the sweeping rate. This factor can exceed 10⁶ for long coherence swept sources.

Demonstration of Triband Multi-Focal Imaging with Optical Coherence Tomography

We demonstrate an extended depth of focus optical coherence tomography (OCT) system based on the use of chromatic aberration to create displaced focal planes in the sample. The system uses a wavelength-swept source tuning over three spectral bands and three separate interferometers, each of which interfaces to a single illumination/collection fiber. The resulting three imaged volumes are merged in post-processing to generate an image with a larger depth of focus than is obtained from each band individually. The improvements are demonstrated in structural imaging of a porous phantom and a lipid-cleared murine brain, and by angiographic imaging of human skin. By using a coaxial approach with Gaussian beams, this approach enables an extended focus with relatively simple microscope optics and data-merging algorithms.

Recovering distance information in spectral domain interferometry

This work evaluates the performance of the Complex Master Slave (CMS) method, that processes the spectra at the interferometer output of a spectral domain interferometry device without involving Fourier transforms (FT) after data acquisition. Reliability and performance of CMS are compared side by side with the conventional method based on FT, phase calibration with dispersion compensation (PCDC). We demonstrate that both methods provide similar results in terms of resolution and sensitivity drop-off. The mathematical operations required to produce CMS results are highly parallelizable, allowing real-time, simultaneous delivery of data from several points of different optical path differences in the interferometer, not possible via PCDC.

Speckle variance OCT for depth resolved assessment of the viability of bovine embryos

The morphology of embryos produced by in vitro fertilization (IVF) is commonly used to estimate their viability. However, imaging by standard microscopy is subjective and unable to assess the embryo on a cellular scale after compaction. Optical coherence tomography is an imaging technique that can produce a depth-resolved profile of a sample and can be coupled with speckle variance (SV) to detect motion on a micron scale. In this study, day 7 post-IVF bovine embryos were observed either short-term (10 minutes) or long-term (over 18 hours) and analyzed by swept source OCT and SV to resolve their depth profile and characterize micron-scale movements potentially associated with viability. The percentage of en face images showing movement at any given time was calculated as a method to detect the vital status of the embryo. This method could be used to measure the levels of damage sustained by an embryo, for example after cryopreservation, in a rapid and non-invasive way.