An imaging fibre bundle is incorporated into a full-field imaging OCT system,
with the aim of eliminating the mechanical scanning currently required at the
probe tip in endoscopic systems. Each fibre within the imaging bundle addresses
a Fizeau interferometer formed between the bundle end and the sample, a
configuration which ensures down lead insensitivity of the probe fibres,
preventing variations in sensitivity due to polarization changes in the many
thousand constituent fibres. The technique allows acquisition of information
across a planar region with single-shot measurement, in the form of a 2D image
detected using a digital CCD camera. Depth scanning components are now confined
within a processing interferometer external to the completely passive endoscope
probe. The technique has been evaluated in our laboratory for test samples, and
images acquired using the bundle-based system are presented. Data are displayed
either as en-face scans, parallel to the sample surface, or as slices through
the depth of the sample, with a spatial resolution of about 30 ï Âm. The minimum
detectable reflectivity at present is estimated to be about 10-3, which is
satisfactory for many inorganic samples. Methods of improving the signal-to-
noise ratio for imaging of lower reflectivity samples are discuss
