Abstract
Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) is a highly versatile method which allows for three dimensional optical imaging in scattering media. A number of recent publications demonstrated the technique to benefit from structured illumination and beam shaping approaches, e.g. to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio or the penetration depth with samples such as biological tissue. We present a compact and easy to implement design for independent wavefront manipulation and beam shaping at the reference and sample arm of the interferometric OCT device. The design requires a single spatial light modulator and can be integrated to existing free space SD-OCT systems by modifying the source arm only. We provide analytical and numerical discussion of the presented design as well as experimental data confirming the theoretical analysis. The system is highly versatile and lends itself for applications where independent phase or wavefront control is required. We demonstrate the system to be used for wavefront sensorless adaptive optics as well as for iterative optical wavefront shaping for OCT signal enhancement in strongly scattering media.
Highlights
In case of transparent media present in front of the sample aberrations may disturb the illuminating as well as the back-scattered beam and, cause a degradation of lateral image resolution
We demonstrated a technique for independent wavefront manipulation at the sample and reference arm of a spectral domain OCT device based on a single spatial light modulator
We provided analytical and numerical discussion of the OCT signal expected with this setup and demonstrated experimental results to verify the analysis
Summary
In case of transparent media present in front of the sample aberrations may disturb the illuminating as well as the back-scattered beam and, cause a degradation of lateral image resolution. Based on the reflection matrix, the discrimination of multiple-scattered OCT signal components could be demonstrated, resulting in a clear advantage in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and achievable penetration depth over conventional signal acquisition with strongly scattering samples[30,31] All these techniques require wavefront control at the OCT sample and, in some cases, at the reference arm. Independent phase and wavefront control at the interferometer arms enable differential SD-OCT acquisition as well as a large number of OCT imaging applications such as beam steering, structured or multi-beam illumination, (sensorless) adaptive optics, iterative wavefront shaping, acquisition of the time-gated reflection matrix, optical phase conjugation as well as any combination of these techniques. We demonstrate applications of the system, including wavefront sensorless adaptive optics as well as iterative optical wavefront shaping
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