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Review
. 2017 Jan 13;8(2):828-859.
doi: 10.1364/BOE.8.000828. eCollection 2017 Feb 1.

High-speed OCT light sources and systems [Invited]

Thomas Klein  1 , Robert Huber  2
Affiliations
Review

High-speed OCT light sources and systems [Invited]

Thomas Klein et al. Biomed Opt Express. .

Abstract

Imaging speed is one of the most important parameters that define the performance of optical coherence tomography (OCT) systems. During the last two decades, OCT speed has increased by over three orders of magnitude. New developments in wavelength-swept lasers have repeatedly been crucial for this development. In this review, we discuss the historical evolution and current state of the art of high-speed OCT systems, with focus on wavelength swept light sources and swept source OCT systems.

Keywords: (110.0110) Imaging systems; (110.4500) Optical coherence tomography; (140.0140) Lasers and laser optics; (140.3600) Lasers, tunable; (170.4500) Optical coherence tomography.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Left: Interference signal (fringe) of a sweep with non-linear time-wavenumber characteristic. Middle: Resampled signal. Right. Fourier-transform of the linearized fringe, showing the point-spread function (PSF).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Left: Polygon scanner based filter, from [49]. Right: Electro-optic deflector tunable filter, from [51].
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Fabry-Perot filters. (A) Fiber-Fabry-Perot tunable filter (FFP-TF), from [54]. (B) Fiber-coupled FFP-TF (Lambda Quest). (C): Electrostatic MEMS FP-TF in a tunable wavelength swept ASE source. The filter is highlighted by a red circle (from [55]).
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Left: Short cavity swept lasers based on FFP-TF ring laser, from [63]. Right: Vernier-tuned distributed Bragg reflector (VT-DBR) short cavity laser, from [64].
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Left: Optically pumped MEMS VCSEL, from [72]. Right: FDML laser.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Left: Swept laser based on dispersion tuning, from [109]. Right: Stretched-pulse swept laser OCT system, with Raman co-amplified fiber stretch line and booster amplifier, from [7]
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
(A) Wide field angiography of human retina, from [173]. (B) Choroid, segmented from 3D OCT data set, from [167]. (C) Coronary artery, captured within one heartbeat, from [129]. (D) Glass splitter in food container. (E) Photoreceptor response, from [184]. (F) 4D-OCT of human fingertip (Optores GmbH).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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