In-vivo human skin imaging by monochromatic source optical coherence tomography

We demonstrated imaging of in-vivo human skin with a low cost and high resolution optical coherence tomography (OCT) using monochromatic light source. Our OCT system is based on a free-space interferometer constructed with low cost optical pickup components, laser diode, high numerical aperture objective, and actuator. Even with narrow bandwidth of the light source, we achieved the axial resolution of 2.6 μm due to the wavefront mismatch between the signal and reference light. OCT imaging of human skin showed skin inner structure as clearly as imaging with a commercial reflectance confocal microscope.