Rao D S Shreesha, Jensen Mikkel, Grüner-Nielsen Lars, Olsen Jesper Toft, Heiduschka Peter, Kemper Björn, Schnekenburger Jürgen, Glud Martin, Mogensen Mette, Israelsen Niels Møller, Bang Ole
DTU Fotonik, Dept. of Photonics Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Ørsteds Plads, 2800, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark.
NKT Photonics A/S, Blokken 84, 3460, Birkerød, Denmark.
Light Sci Appl. 2021 Jun 28;10(1):133. doi: 10.1038/s41377-021-00574-x.
We present the first demonstration of shot-noise limited supercontinuum-based spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) with an axial resolution of 5.9 μm at a center wavelength of 1370 nm. Current supercontinuum-based SD-OCT systems cannot be operated in the shot-noise limited detection regime because of severe pulse-to-pulse relative intensity noise of the supercontinuum source. To overcome this disadvantage, we have developed a low-noise supercontinuum source based on an all-normal dispersion (ANDi) fiber, pumped by a femtosecond laser. The noise performance of our 90 MHz ANDi fiber-based supercontinuum source is compared to that of two commercial sources operating at 80 and 320 MHz repetition rate. We show that the low-noise of the ANDi fiber-based supercontinuum source improves the OCT images significantly in terms of both higher contrast, better sensitivity, and improved penetration. From SD-OCT imaging of skin, retina, and multilayer stacks we conclude that supercontinuum-based SD-OCT can enter the domain of shot-noise limited detection.
我们展示了首个基于超连续谱的散粒噪声限制光谱域光学相干断层扫描（SD - OCT），在中心波长1370 nm处轴向分辨率达到5.9μm。目前基于超连续谱的SD - OCT系统由于超连续谱源严重的脉冲间相对强度噪声，无法在散粒噪声限制检测模式下运行。为克服这一缺点，我们开发了一种基于全正色散（ANDi）光纤的低噪声超连续谱源，由飞秒激光泵浦。我们将基于90 MHz ANDi光纤的超连续谱源的噪声性能与两个分别以80 MHz和320 MHz重复频率运行的商业源进行了比较。我们表明，基于ANDi光纤的超连续谱源的低噪声在更高对比度、更好灵敏度和更强穿透性方面显著改善了OCT图像。从皮肤、视网膜和多层堆栈的SD - OCT成像结果来看，我们得出基于超连续谱的SD - OCT能够进入散粒噪声限制检测领域的结论。
