Instantaneous quadrature low-coherence interferometry with 3x3 fiber-optic couplers

We describe fiber-based quadrature low-coherence interferometers that exploit the inherent phase shifts of 3 x 3 and higher-order fiber-optic couplers. We present a framework based on conservation of energy to account for the interferometric shifts in 3 x 3 interferometers, and we demonstrate that the resulting interferometers provide the entire complex interferometric signal instantaneously in homodyne and heterodyne systems. In heterodyne detection we demonstrate the capability for extraction of the magnitude and sign of Doppler shifts from the complex data. In homodyne detection we show the detection of subwavelength sample motion. N x N (N> 2) low-coherence interferometer topologies will be useful in Doppler optical coherence tomography (OCT), optical coherence microscopy, Fourier-domain OCT, optical frequency domain reflectometry, and phase-referenced interferometry

Fourier-domain low-coherence interferometry for light-scattering spectroscopy

We present a novel method for obtaining depth-resolved spectra for determining scatterer size through elastic- scattering properties. Depth resolution is achieved with a white-light source in a Michelson interferometer with the mixed signal and reference fields dispersed by a spectrograph. The spectrum is Fourier transformed to yield the axial spatial cross correlation between the signal and reference fields with near 1 m m depth resolution. Spectral information is obtained by windowing to yield the scattering amplitude as a function of wave number. The technique is demonstrated by determination of the size of polystyrene microspheres in a subsurface layer with subwavelength accuracy. Application of the technique to probing the size of cell nuclei in living epithelial tissues is discussed

Instantaneous complex conjugate resolved spectral domain and swept-source OCT using 3x3 fiber couplers

We report that the complex conjugate artifact in Fourier domain optical coherence tomography approaches (including spectral domain and swept source OCT) may be resolved by the use of novel interferometer designs based on 3x3 and higher order fiber couplers. Interferometers built from NxN (N>2) truly fused fiber couplers provide simultaneous access to non-complementary phase components of the complex interferometric signal. These phase components may be converted to quadrature components by trigonometric manipulation, then inverse Fourier transformed to obtain A-scans and images with resolved complex conjugate artifact. We demonstrate instantaneous complex conjugate resolved Fourier domain OCT using 3x3 couplers in both spectral domain and swept source implementations. Complex conjugate artifact suppression by factors of ~20dB and ~25dB are demonstrated for spectral domain and swept source implementations, respectively

Sensitivity advantage of swept source and Fourier domain optical coherence tomography

We present theoretical and experimental results which demonstrate the superior sensitivity of swept source (SS) and Fourier domain (FD) optical coherence tomography (OCT) techniques over the conventional time domain (TD) approach. We show that SS- and FD-OCT have equivalent expressions for system signal-to-noise ratio which result in a typical sensitivity advantage of 20-30dB over TD-OCT. Experimental verification is provided using two novel spectral discrimination (SD) OCT systems: a differential fiber-based 800nm FD-OCT system which employs deep-well photodiode arrays, and a differential 1300nm SS-OCT system based on a swept laser with an 87nm tuning range

Frequency estimation precision in Doppler optical coherence tomography using the Cramer-Rao lower bound

Doppler optical coherence tomography (DOCT) is a technique for simultaneous cross-sectional imaging of tissue structure and blood flow. We derive the fundamental uncertainty limits on frequency estimation precision in DOCT using the Cramer-Rao lower bound in the case of additive (e.g., thermal, shot) noise. Experimental results from a mirror and a scattering phantom are used to verify the theoretical limits. Our results demonstrate that the stochastic nature of frequency noise influences the precision of flow imaging, and that the noise model must be selected judiciously in order to estimate the frequency precision

Polarization-resolved second-harmonic-generation optical coherence tomography in collagen

We describe a novel imaging technique, second-harmonic-generation optical coherence tomography (SHOCT). This technique combines the spatial resolution and depth penetration of optical coherence tomography (OCT) with the molecular sensitivity of second-harmonic-generation spectroscopy. As a consequence of the coherent detection required for OCT, polarization-resolved images arise naturally. We demonstrate this new technique on a skin sample from the belly of Icelandic salmon, acquiring polarization-resolved SHOCT and OCT images simultaneously

Protein-based molecular contrast optical coherence tomography with phytochrome as the contrast agent

We report the use of phytochrome A (phyA), a plant protein that can reversibly switch between two states with different absorption maxima (at 660 and 730 nm), as a contrast agent for molecular contrast optical coherence tomography (MCOCT). Our MCOCT scheme builds up a difference image revealing the distribution of phyA within a target sample from pairs of consecutive OCT A-scans acquired at a probe wavelength of 750 nm, both with and without additional illumination of the target sample with 660-nm light. We demonstrate molecular imaging with this new MCOCT modality in a target sample containing a mixture of 0.2% Intralipid and 83 µM of phyA