Balanced-detection visible-light optical coherence tomography

Increases in speed and sensitivity enabled rapid clinical adoption of optical coherence tomography (OCT) in ophthalmology. Recently visible-light OCT (vis-OCT) achieved ultrahigh axial resolution, improved tissue contrast, and new functional imaging capabilities, demonstrating the potential to improve clincal care further. However, limited speed and sensitivity caused by the high relative intensity noise (RIN) in supercontinuum lasers impeded the clinical adoption of vis-OCT. To overcome these limitations, we developed balanced-detection vis-OCT (BD-vis-OCT), which uses two calibrated spectrometers to cancel noises common to sample and reference arms, including RIN. We analyzed the RIN to achieve a robust pixel-to-pixel calibration between the two spectrometers and showed that BD-vis-OCT enhanced system sensitivity by up to 22.2 dB. We imaged healthy volunteers at an A-line rate of 125 kHz and a field-of-view as large as 10 mm x 4 mm. We found that BD-vis-OCT revealed retinal anatomical features previously obscured by the noise floor.

Ghost Beam Suppression in Deep Frequency Modulation Interferometry for Compact On-Axis Optical Heads

We present a compact optical head design for wide-range and low noise displacement sensing using deep frequency modulation interferometry (DFMI). The on-axis beam topology is realised in a quasi-monolithic component and relies on cube beamsplitters and beam transmission through perpendicular surfaces to keep angular alignment constant when operating in air or in a vacuum, which leads to the generation of ghost beams that can limit the phase readout linearity. We investigated the coupling of these beams into the non-linear phase readout scheme of DFMI and implemented adjustments of the phase estimation algorithm to reduce this effect. This was done through a combination of balanced detection and the inherent orthogonality of beat signals with different relative time-delays in deep frequency modulation interferometry, which is a unique feature not available for heterodyne, quadrature or homodyne interferometry.

Ghost Beam Suppression in Deep Frequency Modulation Interferometry for Compact on-Axis Optical Heads

We present a compact optical head design for wide-range and low noise displacement sensing using deep frequency modulation interferometry. The on-axis beam topology is realised in a quasi-monolithic component and relies on cube beamsplitters and beam transmission through perpendicular surfaces to keep angular alignment constant when operating in air or vacuum, which leads to the generation of ghost beams that can limit the phase readout linearity. We investigate the coupling of these beams into the non-linear phase readout scheme of DFMI and demonstrate adjustments of the phase estimation algorithm to reduce this effect. This is done through a combination of balanced detection and the inherent orthogonality of beat signals with different relative time-delays in deep frequency modulation interferometry that is a unique feature not available for heterodyne, quadrature or homodyne interferometry.