Optical coherence tomography: principles, instrumentations, and applications

Summary form only given. There has been tremendous progress in optical coherence tomography (OCT) and other interferometric techniques using broad-bandwidth optical sources for a wide range of precision sensor, reflectometry, and imaging applications. The use of interferometric detection of broad-bandwidth sources has three fundamental advantages over standard direct detection optical imaging techniques: (1) the ability to achieve shot-noise-limited detection and thus high sensitivity (>149 dB), (2) the ability to achieve high dynamic range (<100 dB) as the received signal is proportional to the electric field, and (3) the ability to perform high-resolution phase-sensitive temporal gating yielding improved depth discrimination (<10 /spl mu/m). These features combined with improved theoretical understanding and an improved technology base, primarily driven by advances in the fiber-optic telecommunications community, have resulted in a powerful new visualization capability for a wide range of applications. OCT may have a major impact on numerous market sectors similar to the impact of X-ray CT, MRI, and ultrasound.