Spatiotemporal optical coherence (STOC) manipulation suppresses coherent cross-talk and low-order geometrical aberrations in full-field swept-source optical coherence tomography

Abstract

Full-field swept-source optical coherence tomography (FF-SS-OCT) achieves high resolution imaging with wide-field illumination and parallel Fourier-domain detection. However, FF-SS-OCT is strongly susceptible to the cross-talk-generated noise from spatially coherent lasers. Here, we demonstrate how to overcome this problem with spatiotemporal optical coherence (STOC) manipulation. In STOC the time-varying inhomogeneous phase masks modulate the incident light. We show that by properly adjusting these phase masks, the spatial coherence can be reduced. As a result, the imaging system becomes spatially incoherent. Thus, the cross-talk-generated noise as well as the low-order geometrical aberrations can be suppressed. STOC approach is validated by imaging 1951 USAF resolution test chart covered by diffuser, scattering phantom and the rat skin ex vivo.