Fiber-based Polarization-sensitive Optical Coherence Tomography Research Articles

Digital calibration method to enable depth-resolved all-fiber polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography with an arbitrary input polarization state

We present a fully integrated depth-resolved all fiber-based polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography (PSOCT). In contrast to conventional fiber-based PSOCT systems, which require additional modules to generate two or more input polarization states, or a pre-adjustment procedure to generate a circularly polarized light, the proposed all-fiber PSOCT system can provide depth-resolved birefringent imaging using an arbitrary single input polarization state. Utilizing the discrete differential geometry (DDG)-based polarization state tracing (PST) method, combined with several geometric rotations and transformations in the Stokes space, two problems induced by the optical fibers can be mitigated: 1) The change in the polarization state introduced by the optical fibers can be effectively compensated using a calibration target at the distal end of the probe, and the computations of the local axis orientation and local phase retardation can be achieved with a single arbitrary input polarization state, eliminating the need for a pre-defined input polarization state, allowing a flexible system design and user-friendly experimental procedure; 2) The polarization mode dispersion (PMD) induced by the optical fibers can be compensated digitally without the requirement of additional input polarization states, providing an accurate PSOCT imaging result. To demonstrate the performance of the proposed method, the depth resolved PSOCT results of a plastic phantom and in vivo skin imaging are obtained using the proposed all-fiber PSOCT system.

Full-range depth-encoded swept source polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography.

To realize the high sensitivity polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) imaging, a fiber-based full-range depth-encoded swept source PS-OCT (SS-PS-OCT) method is proposed. The two OCT images corresponding to the orthogonal polarized input light are located on the high sensitivity imaging region of the opposite sides relative to the zero optical path difference position. The full-range OCT images can be obtained by implementing the spatial phase modulation in the reference arm. The detection sensitivity of the system was measured experimentally to be 67 dB when the imaging depth approaching to 2 mm. The imaging of the biological tissue verifies that the proposed full-range depth-encoded SS-PS-OCT system has the higher detection sensitivity compared with the conventional depth encoded SS-PS-OCT system. Finally, we demonstrated the full-range high sensitivity phase retardation image of the bovine tendon and skin of human fingertip. The fiber-based full-range depth-encoded SS-PS-OCT method can realize the high sensitivity birefringence imaging in the medical diagnosis scenes with the requirements for long imaging range and high detection sensitivity.

Computational refocusing in phase-unstable polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography.

We present computational refocusing in polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) to improve spatial resolution in the calculated polarimetric parameters and extend the depth-of-field in phase-unstable, fiber-based PS-OCT systems. To achieve this, we successfully adapted short A-line range phase-stability adaptive optics (SHARP), a computational aberration correction technique compatible with phase-unstable systems, into a Stokes-based PS-OCT system with inter-A-line polarization modulation. Together with the spectral binning technique to mitigate system-induced chromatic polarization effects, we show that computational refocusing improves image quality in tissue polarimetry of swine eye anterior segment ex vivo with PS-OCT. The benefits, drawbacks, and potential applications of computational refocusing in anterior segment imaging are discussed.

Stable fiber-based polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography using polarization maintaining common-path interferometer.

.Significance: Our work advances the development of fiber-based polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) by stabilizing the output polarization state of the light beam when the system is under environmental disturbance. While the fiber-based PS-OCT has been demonstrated previously, it remains a challenge for the traditional fiber-based PS-OCT to obtain a stable measurement when the optic fibers are disturbed by the environment. This important issue is addressed, paving the path for clinical translation of PS-OCT, which can provide a unique perspective of the biological samples.Aim: Polarization maintaining common-path (CP) interferometer is fabricated with the goal of providing a stable fiber-based PS-OCT imaging system that is only responsive to the polarization changes generated by the sample, immune to environmental conditions.Approach: The system is implemented by incorporating a CP interferometer together with polarization maintaining (PM) fibers. The PM fibers are used to preserve the two orthogonal linearly polarized components of the light during propagation. By sharing the CP in the sample and reference arms, any variations in phase retardation can be eliminated between the two channels in the PM fibers. The combination of the PM fiber and the CP interferometer ensures the stability of the output polarization state.Results: The stability of the proposed PS-OCT system is tested when a periodically stressed disturbance is applied to the fibers within the system. Stable in vivo PS-OCT images of the mouse thigh are demonstrated.Conclusions: We have demonstrated a stable fiber-based PS-OCT system that combined the PM fiber and the CP configuration together. We have shown that the output polarization states and the system sensitivity can keep stable over time under the environmental disturbances to the system.

Measurement of optic axis orientation with single-mode fiber-based polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography

An algorithm is presented that can be used to obtain accurate optic axis orientation of birefringent tissue samples. A single-mode fiber (SMF)-based polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography with a single linearly polarized incident light was used in the measurements in which the light reflected from the sample and detected by the spectrometer is linearly polarized light at 45 deg with respect to the experimental horizontal axis. By employing polarization controllers to completely specify the parameters of the fiber system, the absolute optic axis orientation could then be estimated accurately by analyzing the Mueller matrices of the fiber system and sample. The proposed algorithm has been validated in the quantification of the optic axis orientation of a quarter-wave plate. Finally, several birefringent tissue samples were imaged with this SMF-based system.

Fiber motion-insensitive fiber-based polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography for optic axis determination

Polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) is widely used to image fibrous biological tissues, providing additional image contrast compared to intensity-based OCT, including birefringence and optic axis orientation information. Here a theoretical and experimental analysis of the effect of the system fiber on determination of sample optic axis orientation using a previously reported algorithm based on the angle between Stokes vectors on the Poincaré sphere in fiber-based PS-OCT experimentally confirms that the algorithm only works correctly when the parameters of the system fiber are kept constant during the imaging acquisition of each frame. To extend the use of the algorithm to situations in which the parameters of the system fiber are varied among A-scans or image frames, which is true when the OCT probe scanning does move the sample arm fiber, we propose the use of polarization maintaining fiber (PMF) with a special polarization axis orientation as the sample arm fiber for extracting sample optic axis orientation using fiber-based PS-OCT systems. The use of the PMF makes the system insensitive to variations of the sample fiber birefringence for determining optic axis orientation by automatically removing the offset ambiguity from each A-scan. We demonstrated by using a computer evaluation model that the proposed method is capable of extracting the relative optic axis orientation correctly when the PMF birefringence is varied among A-scans due to external disturbances to the system fiber, provided that the polarization axis orientation (slow or fast) of the PMF is kept constant during the measurement.

Fiber-based polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography of a minimalistic system configuration.

We present a very simple method of constructing a polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) system. An ordinary fiber-based swept-source OCT system was reconfigured for PS-OCT by adding a long section of polarization-maintaining fiber in the sample arm. Two polarization modes of a large group-delay difference formed spatially distinguished polarization channels. The depth-encoded information on the polarization states was retrieved by an amplitude-based analysis. We found that our method provides an economic scheme of PS-OCT. It demonstrates that an ordinary OCT system can be easily reconfigured for PS-OCT imaging if it has sufficient margins in the imaging range.

Robust reconstruction of local optic axis orientation with fiber-based polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography.

It is challenging to recover local optic axis orientation from samples probed with fiber-based polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT). In addition to the effect of preceding tissue layers, the transmission through fiber and system elements, and imperfect system alignment, need to be compensated. Here, we present a method to retrieve the required correction factors from measurements with depth-multiplexed PS-OCT, which accurately measures the full Jones matrix. The correction considers both retardation and diattenuation and is applied in the wavenumber domain, preserving the axial resolution of the system. The robustness of the method is validated by measuring a birefringence phantom with a misaligned system. Imaging ex-vivo lamb trachea and human bronchus demonstrates the utility of reconstructing the local optic axis orientation to assess smooth muscle, which is expected to be useful in the assessment of airway smooth muscle thickness in asthma, amongst other fiber-based applications.

Processing-based approach for resolving the sample optic axis in endoscopic polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography.

Fiber-based polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) that utilizes a rotationally-scanning catheter has a variety of potential biomedical applications in luminal organ systems due to its ability to provide intrinsic contrast for birefringent tissue. Incorporating the optic axis (OA) of the tissue greatly enhances this potential by also permitting information about the orientation of the tissue to be extracted; however, measurement distortion that occurs has up to this point made it impossible to obtain accurate sample OA measurements. In this paper we present a straightforward calibration technique that allows the sample OA to be recovered. This technique requires no hardware modifications making it generally applicable, and as a result has tremendous potential in improving the utility of endoscopic PS-OCT image data.

Dark-field polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography.

Polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) is a functional OCT providing both structural and birefringent information of the sample, and it has been applied to the studies of various organs having polarization properties. Fiber-based PS-OCT is sensitive to specular reflection from the sample surface, because signal saturation due to the strong specular reflection can make the polarization measurement difficult. We developed a dark-field PS-OCT which can avoid the specular reflection problem. Dark-field PS-OCT was implemented by adapting a hybrid method of Bessel-beam illumination and Gaussian-beam detection, and a PS-OCT method based on passive delay unit (PDU). The new system was characterized in comparison with the conventional Gaussian-beam based method in both polarization components and various samples including the human skin. Dark-field PS-OCT performed as good as the conventional PS-OCT without the specular reflection artifact. Dark-field PS-OCT may be useful in practical situations where the specular reflection is unavoidable.

En faceparametric imaging of tissue birefringence using polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography

A technique for generating en face parametric images of tissue birefringence from scans acquired using a fiber-based polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) system utilizing only a single-incident polarization state is presented. The value of birefringence is calculated for each A-scan in the PS-OCT volume using a quadrature demodulation and phase unwrapping algorithm. The algorithm additionally uses weighted spatial averaging and weighted least squares regression to account for the variation in phase accuracies due to varying OCT signal-to-noise-ratio. The utility of this technique is demonstrated using a model of thermally induced damage in porcine tendon and validated against histology. The resulting en face images of tissue birefringence are more useful than conventional PS-OCT B-scans in assessing the severity of tissue damage and in localizing the spatial extent of damage.

Absolute fast axis determination using non-polarization-maintaining fiber-based polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography

We report on a new calibration technique that permits the accurate extraction of sample Jones matrix and hence fast-axis orientation by using fiber-based polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) that is completely based on non-polarization-maintaining fiber such as SMF-28. In this technique, two quarter-wave plates (QWPs) are used to completely specify the parameters of the system fibers in the sample arm so that the Jones matrix of the sample can be determined directly. The device was validated on measurements of a QWP and an equine tendon sample by a single-mode fiber-based swept-source PS-OCT system.

Polarimetry noise in fiber-based optical coherence tomography instrumentation

High noise levels in fiber-based polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) have broadly limited its clinical utility. In this study we investigate contribution of polarization mode dispersion (PMD) to the polarimetry noise. We develop numerical models of the PS-OCT system including PMD and validate these models with empirical data. Using these models, we provide a framework for predicting noise levels, for processing signals to reduce noise, and for designing an optimized system.

Polarization-sensitive swept-source optical coherence tomography with continuous source polarization modulation

We present fiber-based polarization-sensitive swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) based on continuous source polarization modulation. The light source is a frequency swept laser centered at 1.31 microm with a scanning rate of 20 kHz. The incident polarization is modulated by a resonant electro-optic modulator at 33.3 MHz, which is one-third of the data acquisition frequency. The zeroth- and first-order harmonic components of the OCT signals with respect to the polarization modulation frequency have the polarimetric information of the sample. By algebraic and matrix calculations of the signals, this system can measure the depth-resolved Jones matrices of the sample with a single wavelength scan. The phase fluctuations of the starting trigger of wavelength scan and the polarization modulation are cancelled by monitoring the OCT phase of a calibration mirror inserted into the sample arm. We demonstrate the potential of the system by the measurement of chicken breast muscle and the volumetric measurement of an in vivo human anterior eye segment. The phase retardation image shows an additional contrast in the fibrous tissue such as the collagen fiber in the trabecular meshwork and sclera.

Optic axis determination accuracy for fiber-based polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography

We present a generalized analysis of fiber-based polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography with an emphasis on determination of sample optic axis orientation. The polarization properties of a fiber-based system can cause an overall rotation in a Poincaré sphere representation such that the plane of possible measured sample optic axes for linear birefringence and diattenuation no longer lies in the QU-plane. The optic axis orientation can be recovered as an angle on this rotated plane, subject to an offset and overall indeterminacy in sign such that only the magnitude, but not the direction, of a change in orientation can be determined. We discuss the accuracy of optic axis determination due to a fundamental limit on the accuracy with which a polarization state can be determined as a function of signal-to-noise ratio.

Fiber-based polarization-sensitive Mueller matrix optical coherence tomography with continuous source polarization modulation

We report on a new configuration of fiber-based polarization-sensitive Mueller matrix optical coherence tomography that permits the acquisition of the round-trip Jones matrix of a biological sample using only one light source and a single depth scan. In this new configuration, a polarization modulator is used in the source arm to continuously modulate the incident polarization state for both the reference and the sample arms. The Jones matrix of the sample can be calculated from the two frequency terms in the two detection channels. The first term is modulated by the carrier frequency, which is determined by the longitudinal scanning mechanism, whereas the other term is modulated by the beat frequency between the carrier frequency and the second harmonic of the modulation frequency of the polarization modulator. One important feature of this system is that, for the first time to our knowledge, the Jones matrix of the sample can be calculated with a single detection channel and a single measurement when diattenuation is negligible. The system was successfully tested by imaging both standard polarization elements and biological samples.

Characterization of dentin, enamel, and carious lesions by a polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography system

Enamel and dentin are the primary components of human teeth. Both of them have a strong polarization effect. We designed a polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PSOCT) system to study the spatially resolved scattering and polarization phenomena of teeth. The system is constructed in free space to avoid the complexity of polarization control in fiber-based PSOCT. The structural features of enamel were evaluated in five human teeth that had no visible evidence of caries. The teeth were subsequently sectioned in mesial distal orientation and coronal orientation. Then the structural aspects of dentin were evaluated. OCT images were made of the mantel dentin near the dentin-enamel junction. Five teeth with interproximal and occlusal caries were also studied. With two channel and phase-retardation images, PSOCT provided better functional contrast and more detailed structural information than conventional OCT. For a better description of the measured PSOCT data, we classify these features by two types, i.e., the local textural features and the global structural features. This study indicates that PSOCT has the potential to be a powerful tool for research of dental formation and caries diagnosis.

Optical-fiber-based Mueller optical coherence tomography.

An optical-fiber-based multichannel polarization-sensitive Mueller optical coherence tomography (OCT) system was built to acquire the Jones or Mueller matrix of a scattering medium, such as biological tissue. For the first time to our knowledge, fiber-based polarization-sensitive OCT was dynamically calibrated to eliminate the polarization distortion caused by the single-mode optical fiber in the sample arm, thereby overcoming a key technical impediment to the application of optical fibers in this technology. The round-trip Jones matrix of the sampling fiber was acquired from the reflecting surface of the sample for each depth scan (A scan) with our OCT system. A new rigorous algorithm was then used to retrieve the calibrated polarization properties of the sample. This algorithm was validated with experimental data. The skin of a rat was imaged with this fiber-based system.

In vivo depth-resolved birefringence measurements of the human retinal nerve fiber layer by polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography

To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of in vivo depth-resolved birefringence measurements of the human retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) by use of polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT). Because glaucoma causes nerve fiber layer damage, which may cause loss of retinal birefringence, PS-OCT is a potentially useful technique for the early detection of glaucoma. We built a fiber-based PS-OCT setup that produces quasi-real-time images of the human retina in vivo . Preliminary measurements of a healthy volunteer showed that the double-pass phase retardation per unit depth of the RNFL near the optic nerve head is 39+/-6( degrees )/100microm .

In vivo burn depth determination by high-speed fiber-based polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography.

We report the first application of high-speed fiber-based polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) to image burned tissue in vivo. Thermal injury denatures collagen in skin and PS-OCT can measure the reduction in collagen birefringence using depth resolved changes in the polarization state of light propagated in, and reflected from, the tissue. Stokes vectors were calculated for each point in a scan and birefringence relative to incident polarization determined using four incident polarization states. Using a high-speed fiber-based PS-OCT system on rat skin burned for varying periods of time, a correlation between birefringence and actual burn depth determined by histological analysis was established. In conclusion, PS-OCT has potential use for noninvasive assessment of burn depth.