WO2007133961A2 - Processes, arrangements and systems for providing frequency domain imaging of a sample - Google Patents

Processes, arrangements and systems for providing frequency domain imaging of a sample Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO2007133961A2
WO2007133961A2 PCT/US2007/068214 US2007068214W WO2007133961A2 WO 2007133961 A2 WO2007133961 A2 WO 2007133961A2 US 2007068214 W US2007068214 W US 2007068214W WO 2007133961 A2 WO2007133961 A2 WO 2007133961A2
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
radiation
wavelength
sample
arrangement
electro
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US2007/068214
Other languages
French (fr)
Other versions
WO2007133961A3 (en
Inventor
Seok-Hyun Yun
Johannes F. De Boer
Original Assignee
The General Hospital Corporation
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by The General Hospital Corporation filed Critical The General Hospital Corporation
Priority to JP2009510092A priority Critical patent/JP2009536740A/en
Priority to EP16190822.3A priority patent/EP3150110B1/en
Priority to EP07761877A priority patent/EP2015669A2/en
Publication of WO2007133961A2 publication Critical patent/WO2007133961A2/en
Publication of WO2007133961A3 publication Critical patent/WO2007133961A3/en

Links

Classifications

    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61BDIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B3/00Apparatus for testing the eyes; Instruments for examining the eyes
    • A61B3/10Objective types, i.e. instruments for examining the eyes independent of the patients' perceptions or reactions
    • A61B3/102Objective types, i.e. instruments for examining the eyes independent of the patients' perceptions or reactions for optical coherence tomography [OCT]
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61BDIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B3/00Apparatus for testing the eyes; Instruments for examining the eyes
    • A61B3/0016Operational features thereof
    • A61B3/0025Operational features thereof characterised by electronic signal processing, e.g. eye models
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61BDIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B3/00Apparatus for testing the eyes; Instruments for examining the eyes
    • A61B3/10Objective types, i.e. instruments for examining the eyes independent of the patients' perceptions or reactions
    • A61B3/12Objective types, i.e. instruments for examining the eyes independent of the patients' perceptions or reactions for looking at the eye fundus, e.g. ophthalmoscopes
    • A61B3/1225Objective types, i.e. instruments for examining the eyes independent of the patients' perceptions or reactions for looking at the eye fundus, e.g. ophthalmoscopes using coherent radiation
    • A61B3/1233Objective types, i.e. instruments for examining the eyes independent of the patients' perceptions or reactions for looking at the eye fundus, e.g. ophthalmoscopes using coherent radiation for measuring blood flow, e.g. at the retina
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61BDIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B3/00Apparatus for testing the eyes; Instruments for examining the eyes
    • A61B3/10Objective types, i.e. instruments for examining the eyes independent of the patients' perceptions or reactions
    • A61B3/14Arrangements specially adapted for eye photography
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61BDIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B5/00Measuring for diagnostic purposes; Identification of persons
    • A61B5/0059Measuring for diagnostic purposes; Identification of persons using light, e.g. diagnosis by transillumination, diascopy, fluorescence
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61BDIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B5/00Measuring for diagnostic purposes; Identification of persons
    • A61B5/0059Measuring for diagnostic purposes; Identification of persons using light, e.g. diagnosis by transillumination, diascopy, fluorescence
    • A61B5/0062Arrangements for scanning
    • A61B5/0066Optical coherence imaging
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61BDIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B5/00Measuring for diagnostic purposes; Identification of persons
    • A61B5/41Detecting, measuring or recording for evaluating the immune or lymphatic systems
    • A61B5/414Evaluating particular organs or parts of the immune or lymphatic systems
    • A61B5/418Evaluating particular organs or parts of the immune or lymphatic systems lymph vessels, ducts or nodes
    • GPHYSICS
    • G01MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01NINVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N21/00Investigating or analysing materials by the use of optical means, i.e. using sub-millimetre waves, infrared, visible or ultraviolet light
    • G01N21/17Systems in which incident light is modified in accordance with the properties of the material investigated
    • G01N21/41Refractivity; Phase-affecting properties, e.g. optical path length
    • G01N21/45Refractivity; Phase-affecting properties, e.g. optical path length using interferometric methods; using Schlieren methods
    • GPHYSICS
    • G01MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01NINVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N21/00Investigating or analysing materials by the use of optical means, i.e. using sub-millimetre waves, infrared, visible or ultraviolet light
    • G01N21/17Systems in which incident light is modified in accordance with the properties of the material investigated
    • G01N21/47Scattering, i.e. diffuse reflection
    • G01N21/4795Scattering, i.e. diffuse reflection spatially resolved investigating of object in scattering medium

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to processes, arrangements and systems which obtain information associated with an anatomical structure or a sample using optical microscopy, and more particularly to such methods, systems and arrangements that provide optical frequency domain imaging of the anatomical structure/sample
  • Optical frequency domain imaging which may also be known as swept source optical coherence tomography (“OCT”), is a technique associated with OCT concepts that generally uses a wavelength-swept light source to probe the amplitude and phase of back scattering light from tissue.
  • OFDI techniques and systems are described in International Application No. PCT/US04/029148.
  • Method and system to determine polarization properties of tissue is described in International Application No. PCT/US05/039374.
  • the OFDI technique can offer intrinsic signal-to-noise ratio ("SNR”) advantage over the time- domain techniques because the interference signal can be effectively integrated through a Fourier transform.
  • SNR signal-to-noise ratio
  • the OFDI technique has enabled significant improvements in, e.g., imaging speed, sensitivity, and ranging depth over the conventional time-domain OCT systems.
  • OFDI procedures/techniques can be used for imaging skin, coronary artery, esophagus, and anterior eye segments.
  • SD OCT systems also known as Fourier domain OCT systems, that use broadband light sources at 800 nm and arrayed spectrometers have been provided to facilitate a three-dimensional retinal imaging in vivo with a superior image acquisition speed and a sensitivity to conventional time-domain OCT techniques.
  • the OFDI procedures offer several advantages, such as an immunity to motion-induced signal fading, simple polarization-sensitive or diversity scheme, and long ranging depth.
  • a clinical-viable OFDI system for imaging posterior eye segments has previously been unavailable, primarily due to the lack of a wide-tuning rapidly-swept light source in a low water absorption window. Indeed, despite the widespread use of the conventional OCT for retinal disease diagnostics, imaging posterior eye segment with OFDI has not been possible.
  • exemplary embodiments of systems, arrangements and processes can be provided that are capable of, e.g., utilizing the OFDI techniques to image at least one portion of the eye.
  • an exemplary embodiment of OFDI technique, system and process according to the present invention for imaging at least one portion of an eye can be provided.
  • a high-performance swept laser at 1050 nm and an ophthalmic OFDI system can be used that offers a high A-line rate of 19 kHz, sensitivity of >92 dB over a depth range of 2.5 mm with an optical exposure level of 550 ⁇ W, and a deep penetration into the choroid.
  • an OFDI system can be utilized which uses a swept laser in the 815-870 nm range, which can be used in clinical ophthalmic imaging and molecular contrast-based imaging.
  • a method, apparatus and software arrangement can be provided for obtaining information associated with an anatomical structure or a sample using optical microscopy.
  • a radiation can be provided which includes at least one first electro-magnetic radiation directed to be provided to an anatomical sample and at least one second electro-magnetic radiation directed to a reference.
  • a wavelength of the radiation can vary over time, and the wavelength is shorter than approximately 1150 nm.
  • An interference can be detected between at least one third radiation associated with the first radiation and at least one fourth radiation associated with the second radiation. At least one image corresponding to at least one portion of the sample can be generated using data associated with the interference.
  • a period of a variation of the wavelength of the first electro-magnetic radiation can be shorter than 1 millisecond.
  • the anatomical sample can include at least one section of the posterior segment of an eye.
  • the section can include a retina, a choroid, an optic nerve and/or a fovea.
  • the wavelength may be shorter than approximately 950 nm.
  • the wavelength can also vary by at least 10 nm over a period of a variation of the wavelength of the first electro-magnetic radiation.
  • At least one fourth arrangement can also be provided which is capable of scanning the first electro-magnetic radiation laterally across the anatomical sample.
  • the image may be associated with the anatomical structure of the sample and/or a blood and/or a lymphatic flow in the sample.
  • the third arrangement may be capable of (i) obtaining at least one signal associated with at least one phase of at least one frequency component of the interference signal over less than an entire sweep of the wavelength, and (ii) comparing the at least one phase to at least one particular information.
  • the particular information can be associated with a further signal obtained from a sweep of the wavelength that is different from the sweep of the wavelength of the signal.
  • the particular information may be a constant, and/or can be associated with at least one phase of at least one further frequency component of the interference signal over less than an entire sweep of the wavelength.
  • the frequency components may be different from one another.
  • the third arrangement may be capable of generating a two-dimensional fundus-type reflectivity profile of the anatomic sample and/or a two-dimensional fundus-type image of the anatomic sample based the signal.
  • Another arrangement may be provided which is capable of receiving the first or second electro-magnetic radiations, and providing at least one fifth electro-magnetic radiation associated with the first electro-magnetic radiation and/or the second electro-magnetic radiation.
  • the second arrangement may be further capable of detecting a further interference signal between the fifth radiation and the fourth radiation.
  • the second arrangement may be further capable of obtaining at least one reference signal associated with a further phase of at least one first frequency component of the further interference signal over less than an entire sweep of the wavelength.
  • the particular information may be the further phase.
  • At least one source arrangement can be provided which is configured to provide an electro-magnetic radiation which has a wavelength that varies over time.
  • a period of a variation of the wavelength of the one first electro-magnetic radiation can be shorter than 1 millisecond, and the wavelength is shorter than approximately 1150 nm.
  • a control arrangement which is capable of modulating at least one of an optical gain or an optical loss in the at least one source arrangement over time can be provided.
  • the optical gain may be facilitated by a semiconductor material.
  • Another arrangement can be provided which is configured to effect a gain and/or a loss as a function of the wavelength.
  • the wavelength may vary by at least 10 nm over the period and/or may be shorter than approximately 950 nm.
  • first data can be received for a three-dimensional image of at least one portion of a sample.
  • the first data may be associated with an optical interferometric signal generated from signals obtained from the sample and a reference.
  • a region that is less than an entire portion of the first data can be converted to second data to generate a two-dimensional image which is associated with the portion of the sample.
  • the region can be automatically selected based on at least one characteristic of the sample
  • the entire portion may be associated with an internal structure within the sample (e.g., an anatomical structure).
  • the region may be at least one portion of a retina and/or a choroid.
  • the two-dimensional image may be associated with an integrated reflectivity profile of the region and/or at least one of a blood or a lymphatic vessel network.
  • the region can be automatically selected by determining at least one location of at least one section of the region based a reflectivity in the region.
  • a radiation to be provided which includes at least one first electromagnetic radiation directed to a sample and at least one second electro-magnetic radiation directed to a reference.
  • a wavelength of the radiation varies over time.
  • An interference signal can be detected between at least one third radiation associated with the first radiation and at least one fourth radiation associated with the second radiation.
  • At least one signal associated with at least one phase of at least one frequency component of the interference signal can be obtained over less than an entire sweep of the wavelength. The phase may be compared to at least one particular information.
  • the first electro-magnetic radiation may be scanned laterally across the sample, which may include at least one section of a posterior segment of an eye.
  • the section can include a retina, a choroid, an optic nerve and/or a fovea.
  • the interference signal may be associated with an integral fraction of the entire sweep of the wavelength.
  • the fraction of the sweep may be a half or a quarter of the sweep.
  • the signal may be associated with a flow velocity and/or an anatomical structure in the sample.
  • the particular information may be associated with a further signal obtained from a sweep of the wavelength that is different from the sweep of the wavelength of the signal.
  • the particular information may be a constant and/or may be associated with at least one phase of at least one further frequency component of the interference signal over less than an entire sweep of the wavelength.
  • the frequency components may be different from one another.
  • FIGURE l(a) is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a wavelength-swept laser system according to the present invention.
  • FIGURE l(b) is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of an interferometric system according to the present invention.
  • FIGURE 2(a) is a graph illustrating measured output characteristics of a peak-hold output spectrum and an optical absorption in water for a particular propagation distance corresponding to a roundtrip in typical human vitreous;
  • FIGURE 2(b) is a graph illustrating measured output characteristics of a time-domain output trace
  • FIGURE 3 is a graph illustrating point spread functions measured at various path length differences
  • FIGURE 4 is an exemplary image of retina and choroid obtained from a healthy volunteer using the exemplary embodiment of the . system, process and arrangement according to the present invention
  • FIGURE 5 (a) is a first exemplary OFDI image at fovea and optic nerve head of a patient A produced by an exemplary system at one location;
  • FIGURE 5(b) is a second exemplary OFDI image at the fovea and the optic nerve head of the patient A produced by another exemplary system at such location;
  • FIGURE 5(c) is a first exemplary SD-OCT image at the fovea and the optic nerve head of the patient A as a similar location produced by an exemplary system according to the present invention
  • FIGURE 5(d) is a second exemplary SD-OCT image at the fovea and the optic nerve head of the patient A as the location of FIGURE 5(c) produced by an exemplary system according to the present invention
  • FIGURE 5(e) is a third exemplary OFDI image obtained from a patient B produced by another exemplary system according to the present invention.
  • FIGURE 5(f) is a fourth exemplary OFDI image obtained from the patient B produced by a further exemplary system according to the present invention.
  • FIGURE 6A is an exemplary two-dimensional reflectance image of the retinal and choroidal vasculature extracted from the three-dimensional OFDI data set associated with the image of FIGURE 4 obtained by a conventional full-range integration method;
  • FIGURE 6B is an exemplary fundus-type reflectivity image obtained using an exemplary embodiment of an axial-sectioning integration technique
  • FIGURE 6C is an exemplary retinal reflectivity image showing a shadow of a blood vasculature
  • FIGURE 6C is an exemplary reflectivity image obtained from an upper part of the choroids
  • FIGURE 6E is an exemplary image of an exemplary reflectivity image integrated from a center of the choroid showing a choroidal vasculature
  • FIGURE 7(a) is a schematic diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the wavelength-swept laser arrangement according to the present invention.
  • FIGURE 7(b) is a graph of a peak-hold output spectrum of the signals generated using the exemplary embodiment of FIGURE 7(a);
  • FIGURE 7(c) is a graph of a oscilloscope trace generated using the exemplary embodiment of FIGURE 7(a);
  • FIGURE 8(a) is a graph of a sensitivity measured as a function of a reference power
  • FIGURE 8(b) is a graph of a sensitivity measured as a function of a depth
  • FIGURE 9 is an exemplary OFDI image of a Xenopus laevis tadpole in vivo acquired using another exemplary embodiment of the system, arrangement and process according to the present invention.
  • FIGURE 10(a) is a graph of an exemplary output of a shaped spectra without a gain/loss modulation generated as a function of wavelength using another exemplary embodiment of the system, arrangement and process according to the present invention
  • FIGURE 10(b) is a graph of an exemplary output of the shaped spectra with the gain/loss modulation generated as a function of wavelength using an exemplary embodiment of the system, arrangement and process according to the present invention
  • FIGURE 11 is a flow diagram of a conventional method to obtain Doppler OFDI signals
  • FIGURE 12 is a flow diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a process to obtain Doppler OFDI signals by processing a portion of an interference fringe according to the present invention
  • FIGURE 13 (a) is an exemplary single image of the retina which includes the fovea and optic disk obtained from a healthy volunteer consecutively acquired at a large number of frames;
  • FIGURE 13(b) is an exemplary integrated fundus image of the retina generated from multiple cross-sectional images covering an area by integrating the intensity in each depth profile.
  • FIGURE l(a) depicts an exemplary embodiment of a laser source system (e.g., which can include a 1050 nm swept laser source) provided in a linear cavity configuration according to the present invention.
  • a gain medium 10 can be provided, such as a bi-directional semiconductor optical amplifier (QPhotonics, Inc., QSOA-1050) which may be driven at an injection current level of 400 mA.
  • One port of the amplifier can be coupled to a wavelength-scanning filter 20 that may comprise a diffraction grating 30 (1200 lines/mm), a telescope consisting of two lenses 40, 42 with respective focal lengths of 100 and 50 mm, and a polygon mirror scanner 50 (e.g., Lincoln Lasers, Inc., 40 facets).
  • the design bandwidth and free spectral range of the filter can be approximately 0.1 nm and 61 nm, respectively.
  • the amplifier's other port can be spliced to connect to a loop mirror which may include a 50/50 coupler 60.
  • a Sagnac loop 70 can also act as an output coupler.
  • the reflectivity and output coupling ratio can be complementary, and may be optimized by adjusting a polarization controller 80 to tune the amount of the birefringence-induced non-reciprocity in the loop.
  • the linear-cavity configuration can also be used instead of or together with conventional ring cavity designs, since low- loss low-cost circulators and isolators may not be readily available at 1050 nm. Sweep repetition rates of up to 36 kHz may be achieved with 100% duty cycle, which may represent a significant improvement over previously demonstrated swept lasers in the 1050 nm region that offered tuning rates of ⁇ 1 kHz.
  • the laser can be operated at a wavelength sweep rate of about 18.8 kHz, thus producing a polarized output with an average output power of 2.7 mW.
  • FIGURE l(b) depicts an exemplary embodiment of an optical frequency domain imaging (OFDI) system according to the present invention.
  • OFDI optical frequency domain imaging
  • This exemplary system further comprises a fiber-optic interferometer 110, a beam scanner 120, a detector 130 and a computerHO.
  • a sample arm 150 e.g., 30% port
  • a two-axis galvanometer scanner apparatus 120 which may be designed for a retinal imaging.
  • a reference arm 170 e.g., 70% port
  • a neutral density (ND) attenuator 184 may be used to obtain an optimal reference-arm power.
  • Light returning from the sample can be combined with the reference light at a 50/50 coupler 190.
  • Resulting interference signals can be measured using an InGaAs dual-balanced detector 140 (e.g., New Focus, Inc., 1811).
  • a signal provided by the balanced detector 140 can be further amplified (e.g., by 10 dB), low-pass filtered, and digitized at 10 MS/s using, e.g., a 12-bit data acquisition board (National Instruments, Inc., PCI-6115).
  • the imaging depth range determined by the spectral sampling interval can be about 2.44 mm in air.
  • the exemplary output spectrum spanned from 1019 to 1081 nm over a range of 62 nm determined by the free spectral range of the filter.
  • the spectral range coincided with a local transparent window of the eye.
  • the roundtrip optical absorption in human vitreous and aqueous humors can be estimated to be between about 2dB and 5 dB based on known absorption characteristics of water (as shown in FIGURE 2(a)).
  • a variable-delay Michelson interferometer it is possible to measure the coherence length of the laser output, defined as the roundtrip delay resulting in 50% visibility, to be approximately 4.4 mm in air. From this value, it is possible to determine an instantaneous line width of laser output to be 0.11 nm.
  • a peak-hold output spectrum 200 and an optical absorption curve 205 are provided in water for a 42-mm propagation distance corresponding to a roundtrip in a typical human vitreous.
  • Figure 2(b) shows a graph of a time domain exemplary oscilloscope output trace 210 of a laser output indicating 100% tuning duty cycle at 18.8 kHz (single shot, 5-MHz detection bandwidth).
  • the y-axis of the trace graph of FIGURE 2(b) represents an instantaneous optical power.
  • the total power of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) in the output, measured by blocking the intracavity beam in the polygon filter, is shown as about 1.1 mW. Since ASE is significantly suppressed during lasing, it is expected that the ASE level in the laser output may be negligible.
  • ASE amplified spontaneous emission
  • the laser output exhibited significant intensity fluctuations ( ⁇ 10%pp) due to an etalon effect originating from relatively large facet reflections at the SOA chip with a thickness equivalent to 2.5 mm in air.
  • the etalon effect can cause ghost images (-30 dB) by optical aliasing.
  • An exemplary embodiment of the OFDI system and exemplary optimized operating parameters can be provided to maximize the SNR using a partial reflector (neutral density filter and metal mirror) as a sample.
  • An exemplary preferable reference arm power for maximal SNR may be 2.6 ⁇ W at each detection port. This relatively low value can be attributed to the relatively large intensity noise of the laser that may not be completely suppressed in the dual balanced detection.
  • Exemplary data processing according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention can include reference subtraction, envelope apodization or windowing, interpolation to correct for nonlinear k-space tuning, and dispersion correction. For example, subtracting the reference from the interference signals can eliminate image artifacts due to a non-uniform spectral envelope of the laser source. Apodizing the interference fringes by imposing a appropriate windowing technique can decrease the sidebands of point spread functions and improve image contrast.
  • This exemplary embodiment of the process according to the present invention may come at a resolution loss and SNR (due to a reduced integration time). It is possible to use a Gaussian window to yield a desirable compromise in contrast and resolution (e.g., at 1050-nm ). Since the detector signal may not be sampled in constant time intervals, whereas the tuning curve of our laser was not linear in k- space, interpolating the interference signal may be preferable to reduce or avoid image blurring. Upon completing the exemplary interpolation, the signal may be further corrected for the chromatic dispersion in the interferometer as well as in the sample, e.g., by multiplying a predetermined phase function.
  • FIGURE 3 shows exemplary A-line profiles and/or point spread functions 220 measured at various path length differences of the interferometer.
  • a neutral density attenuator 73 dB
  • gold-coated mirror in the sample arm
  • the maximum SNR is 25 dB that corresponds to a maximum sensitivity of 98 dB.
  • the theoretical shot-noise limit of sensitivity is calculated to be 109 dB; the 11- dB deficiency in sensitivity of our system seems reasonable, considering that the residual laser intensity noise, imperfect polarization alignment between the sample and reference light, and Gaussian windowing, among many other practical details, contributed to SNR loss.
  • each exemplary curve plotted was obtained by an average over 500 consecutive scans at a constant depth, and a simple numerical subtraction was performed to make the noise floor flat.
  • ghost artifacts marked as asterisks 230 were caused by the etalon effect in the laser source are shown in this figure.
  • the sensitivity was decreased to 92 dB as the path length increased to a depth of 2.4 mm, due to the finite coherence length of the laser output.
  • the exemplary embodiment of the system according to the present invention provides a higher sensitivity, e.g., at a 100-fold faster image acquisition speed and one sixth of sample arm power.
  • the high sensitivity and depth range of the exemplary embodiment of the system according to the present invention compare favorably with exemplary SD-OCT systems that use broadband sources in the 800 - 900 nm spectral range.
  • the actual SNR for the human retina is likely 3-4 dB lower than the values measured with the mirror sample.
  • the theoretical axial resolution can be determined to be about 13 ⁇ m in air; the measured values may be 14 - 16 ⁇ m, increasing with the depth. Errors in interpolation and dispersion compensation due to higher order terms may account for the discrepancy.
  • the exemplary OFDI system acquired 18,800 A-lines continuously over 10-20 seconds as the focused sample beam was scanned over an area of 6 mm (horizontal) by 5.2 mm (vertical) across the macular region in the retina.
  • Figure 4 shows a sequence 250 of images of the fovea and optic disk of the sample recorded from volunteer A at a frame rate of 18.8 Hz in 10.6 seconds.
  • FIG. 5A depicts an expanded exemplary image of fovea extracted from the three-dimensional data set using the exemplary embodiments of the system, process and arrangement according to the present invention.
  • the exemplary OFDI image of FIGURE 5A indicates a deep penetration into the choroid nearly up to the interface with the sclera, visualizing densely-packed choroidal capillaries and vessels.
  • the two volunteers A and B can be three-dimensionally imaged using both the OFDI system and the SD-OCT system previously developed for video-rate retinal imaging.
  • the SD-OCT system employed a super luminescent diode with a center wavelength of 840 nm and a 3-dB spectral bandwidth of 50 nm, offering an axial resolution of 8 - 9 nm in air.
  • the SD-OCT system offered a peak sensitivity of 98 dB at zero delay that decreased to 82 dB at the maximum ranging depth of 2.2 mm in air.
  • FIGS 5A-5F illustrate side-by-side comparisons of the OFDI and
  • FIGURES 5A and 5C shows OFDI images at fovea and optic nerve head from the volunteer A.
  • FIGURES 5B and 5D illustrate SD-OCT images from the same person at similar tissue locations.
  • FIGURES 5E and 5F provide the OFDI and SD- OCT images, respectively, obtained from volunteer B.
  • the OFDI images exhibit considerably deeper penetration in tissue than the SD-OCT images in most if not in all data sets. Such large penetration depth may stem from both the high system sensitivity and long source wavelength.
  • the OFDI system can visualize the anatomical layered structure in the retina (as shown in FIGURE 5A), RNFL, retinal nerve fiber layer, IPL, inner plexiform layer, INL; inner nuclear layer, OPL; outer plexiform layer, ONL; outer nuclear layer, IPRL; interface between the inner and outer segments of the photoreceptor layer, RPE; retinal pigmented epithelium, and C; choriocapillaris and choroid.
  • the OFDI images exhibit considerably deeper penetration into the choroid compared to the SD-OCT images, whereas the higher axial resolution in the SD-OCT images provide better contrast between retinal layers.
  • the lower absorption and scattering in RPE at 1050 nm than 840 nm may account for the apparently superior penetration of the OFDI system to the SD-OCT system with a comparable sensitivity.
  • FIGURE 6A shows an exemplary integrated reflectivity image generated from the entire OFDI image sequence shown in FIGURE 4, with the image being two-dimensional reflectance image (5.3 x 5.2 mm 2 ) obtained with the conventional full-range integration method.
  • the exemplary image shows the exemplary optical nerve head, fovea, retinal vessels, and an outline of the deep choroidal vasculature. However, the depth information is not indicated. To address this deficiency of the image generated by a conventional method, it is possible to integrate only selective regions according to using the exemplary embodiment of the system, process and arrangement of the present invention.
  • FIGURE 6B shows an Illustration of an exemplary embodiment of a axial-sectioning integration technique for producing fundus-type reflectivity images.
  • the shadow or loss of signal created by the retinal vessels above can appear most distinctly. Integrating over the entire retina including the vessel often results in a lower contrast in the vasculature because retinal blood vessels produce large signals by strong scattering.
  • Automatic image processing conveniently allowed for automatic segmentations of the IPRL and RPE layers 260, 270.
  • FIGURE 6C depicts an exemplary reflectivity image (shadow) of a blood vasculature (3.8 x 5.2 mm 2 ) of the retina vessels .
  • a blood vasculature (3.8 x 5.2 mm 2 ) of the retina vessels .
  • FIGURE 6D To obtain an image of the complete choroidal region, it is possible to utilize an integration range indicated by references 280 and 290 of FIGURE 6B.
  • the choroidal vasculature is shown in the exemplary resulting reflectivity image of FIGURE 6E which is an exemplary reflectivity image integrated from the center of the choroid revealing the choroidal vasculature. Reflectivity images with similar qualities can be obtained from volunteer B.
  • the exemplary embodiment of the OFDI system may provide an order-of-magnitude higher image acquisition speed than with the use of the conventional time-domain OCT systems, and avails the choroid images with an enhanced contrast in comparison to the SD-OCT system at 840 nm.
  • the enhanced penetration makes it possible to obtain depth-sectioned reflectivity images of the choroid capillary and vascular networks.
  • Fundus camera or scanning laser ophthalmoscope have been conventionally used to view vasculatures. However, such methods may require fluoresce in or indocyanine green angiography to have access to the choroid except for patients with significantly low level of pigmentations.
  • the exemplary OFDI system includes a wavelength-swept laser produced using, e.g., a commercial SOA and custom-built intracavity scanning filter, such laser's output power, tuning speed and range may yield a sensitivity of about 98 dB, A-line rate of 19 kHz, and resolution of
  • the power exposure level of the exemplary embodiment of the system according to the present invention can be only 550 ⁇ W, whereas the maximum ANSI limit at 1050 nm is likely to be 1.9 mW.
  • FIGURE 7 (a) shows another exemplary embodiment of a swept laser source arrangement according to the present invention, e.g., in the 815-870 nm spectral range.
  • the swept laser source arrangement can include a fiber-optic unidirectional ring cavity 300 with a free-space isolator 310.
  • the gain medium 320 may be a commercially-available semiconductor optical amplifier (e.g., SOA-372- 850-SM, Superlum Diodes Ltd.).
  • An intracavity spectral filter 330 can be provided which may comprise a diffractive grating (e.g., 830 grooves/mm) 332, two achromatic lenses 334, 336 in the 4/ configuration, and a 72-facet polygon mirror 340 (Lincoln lasers, Inc.).
  • the polygon can be rotated at about 600 revolutions per second to produce unidirectional sweeps from short to long wavelengths at a repetition rate of 43.2 kHz.
  • the free-space collimated beam in the cavity may have a size of about 1 mm FWHM (full width at half maximum).
  • the beam incident angle to the grating normal can be 67 deg.
  • the focal lengths of the two lenses 334, 336 in the telescope can be 75 (/!) and 40 (Z 2 ) mm, respectively. It is possible to predict a free-spectral range of 55 nm and FWHM filter bandwidth of 0.17 nm.
  • the laser output can be obtained via a 70% port of a fiber-optic coupler 350.
  • Two polarization controllers 360, 362 can be used to maximize the output power and tuning range.
  • FIGURE 7(b) shows an exemplary output spectrum 380, 385 measured with an exemplary optical spectrum analyzer in a peak-hold mode at a resolution bandwidth of 0.1 nm.
  • the total tuning range is 55 nm from 815 to 870 nm with a FWHM bandwidth of 38 nm.
  • a stability of the output power is provided in the single-shot oscilloscope trace 390 as shown in FIGURE 7(c) provided at a about 43.2 kHz sweep rate and 7mW averaged power.
  • the peak power variation across tuning cycles may be less than 1%.
  • the instantaneous laser emission can contain multiple longitudinal modes.
  • FIGURE 3(b)) can indicate that the FWHM line width may be approximately 0.17 nm corresponding to the filter bandwidth.
  • the intensity noise characteristic of the laser output may further be characterized by using an electrical spectrum analyzer (e.g., Model, Agilent) and low-gain Silicon detector.
  • the measured relative intensity noise can range from about -125 dB/Hz to -135 dB/Hz decreasing with the frequency in the frequency range of about 2 MHz to 10 MHz.
  • the noise peaks due to longitudinal mode beating can appear at 91 MHz.
  • the time-average output power may be about 6.9 mW.
  • the large output coupling ratio of the exemplary embodiment of the laser source arrangement e.g., about 70%, can ensure that the peak power at the SOA does not exceed about 20 mW, e.g., the specified optical damage threshold of the
  • the output may contain a broadband amplified spontaneous emission that can occupy ⁇ 8% (about 0.56 mW) of the total average power.
  • An exemplary embodiment of the OFDI system according to the present invention can be provided using the exemplary wavelength-swept laser arrangement.
  • the configuration of the exemplary system can be similar to the system shown in FIGURE l(b).
  • the laser output can be split into two paths in an interferometer by a 30/70 coupler.
  • one path e.g., 30% port, termed "sample arm”
  • the other path generally provides a reference beam.
  • the signal beam returning from the sample by backscattering is combined with the reference beam at, e.g., a 50/50 coupler, thus producing interference.
  • the interference signal may be detected with a dual-balanced silicon receiver (e.g., DC-80 MHz, 1807-FS, New Focus).
  • the receiver output is low-pass filtered (35 MHz) and digitized at a sampling rate of 100 MS/s with a 14-bit data acquisition board (e.g., DAQ, NI-5122, National Instruments).
  • DAQ digital-assisted laser scanner
  • the data set may be transferred to a host personal computer, either to the memory/storage arrangement for on-line processing and/or display or to the hard disk for post processing.
  • the exemplary system is capable of processing and displaying the image frame in real time at a frame refresh rate of about 5 Hz.
  • an exemplary 256 MB on-board memory provides for acquisition of up to 65,536 A-line scans consecutively for about 1.3 sec. This corresponds to about 128 image frames, each consisting of 512 A-lines.
  • Post data processing techniques can include reference subtraction, apodization, interpolation into a linear k-space, and dispersion compensation prior to Fourier transforms.
  • FIGURE 8(a) shows a graph 400 of the sensitivity of the exemplary system measured as a function of the reference optical power.
  • the reference power can be varied by using a variable neutral density (ND) filter in the reference arm.
  • ND neutral density
  • the path length difference between the sample and reference arms may be about 0.6 mm, and the optical power returning from the attenuated sample mirror can be 3.3 nW at each port of the 50/50 coupler.
  • the sensitivity values may be determined by adding the sample attenuation (e.g., about 50 dB) to the measured signal-to-noise ratios (SNR).
  • the reference power can be measured at one of the ports of the 50/50 coupler, corresponding to the time- average reference power at each photodiode. At reference powers between about 30 ⁇ W and 200 ⁇ W, a maximum sensitivity of -96 dB may be obtained.
  • the sensitivity in the unit of decibel may be expressed as:
  • sensitivity P 1 . is the reference power level
  • ⁇ and b correspond to the reference power levels at which the thermal and intensity noise, respectively, become equal to that of the shot noise in magnitude
  • can be a fitting parameter associated with other factors contributing to the loss of sensitivity.
  • So may be about 107 dB.
  • a 17 ⁇ W from the detector noise level (e.g., 3.3 pA/VHz) and conversion efficiency (e.g., 1 AfW).
  • the relative intensity noise of the laser e.g., -130 dB/Hz
  • FIGURE 8(b) shows a graph of the sensitivity 420 measured as a function of depth.
  • This exemplary value may be largely attributed to the simplified model assuming a flat reference spectrum, a polarization mismatch between the sample and the reference light, and the apodization step in data processing, each possibly contributing to a loss of sensitivity by a couple of dB's.
  • the sensitivity can decrease as the interferometric delay increases. It is possible to measure axial point spread functions at various depth locations of the sample mirror by changing the delay in the reference arm while maintaining the reference power at about 100 ⁇ W per photodiode, as shown in the graph of FIGURE 8(b). For example, each axial profile can be calibrated by measuring the noise floor obtained by blocking the sample arm, and then matching the noise floor to a 50 dB level. In this manner, the modest frequency or depth dependence ( ⁇ 2 dB) of the noise floor can be reduced or eliminated. Thus, the sensitivity can drop by about 6 dB at a depth of about 1.9 mm.
  • the instantaneous laser line width may be about 0.17 nm.
  • the FWHM of the axial profile, or the axial resolution in air, can be about 8 ⁇ m in the depth from zero to B mm. This corresponds to an axial resolution of ⁇ 6 ⁇ m in tissue imaging (e.g., refractive index, n ⁇ 1.35).
  • images of Xenopus laevis tadpoles may be obtained in vivo by scanning the sample beam (B- mode scan).
  • the optical power on the sample may be about 2.4 mW.
  • the tadpole (stage 46) can be under anesthesia in a water bath by a drop of about 0.02% 3- aminobenzoic acid ethyl ester (MS-222).
  • Figure 9 shows a sequence of images 450 obtained as the beam is scanned in one dimension repeatedly over the ventricle in the heart.
  • the image sequence was acquired at a frame rate of 84.4 Hz (512 A-lines per frame) in the duration of 1.2 s, but is displayed at a reduced rate of 24 frames per second.
  • the motion of the ventricle including trabeculae can be seen.
  • the ability to image the beating heart with high spatial and temporal resolution may be useful for investigating normal and abnormal cardiac developments in vivo.
  • the exemplary embodiment of the OFDI system, process and arrangement according to the present invention can enable high-speed functional or molecular imaging.
  • An exemplary preferred light source arrangement for OFDI imaging generally has a flat output spectrum.
  • the filter may be a broadband variable attenuator, and its transmission may be controlled synchronously with laser tuning.
  • the exemplary filter may be a passive spectral filter with a desired transmission spectrum.
  • the gain medium can preferably be a semiconductor optical amplifier, and its gain may be varied by modulating the injection current to the amplifier synchronously with filter tuning.
  • FIGURES 10(a) and 10(b) illustrate graphs of exemplary output tuning traces 480, 490 without and with the use of an exemplary embodiment of a modulation method according to the present invention, respectively. This exemplary method can also be effective to maximize or at least increase the output power and tuning range for a given optical damage threshold of the semiconductor gain chip.
  • the ability to detect and quantify the blood flow in the eye retina and choroid can have impacts in several clinical applications such as for an evaluation of age-related macular degeneration.
  • Several methods of extracting the flow information from the phase of the OFDI signals are known in the art. These exemplary conventional methods, however, require a significant beam overlap between two consecutive A-line scans- over sampling, thus causing undesirable compromise between the phase accuracy and image acquisition speed.
  • Using the exemplary embodiment of the system, process and arrangement according to the present invention instead of comparing the phase values of two A-line scans, it is possible to extract multiple phase values corresponding to different time points or wavelengths within a single A-line and compare the values with reference phase values.
  • This exemplary procedure provides for a measurement of the flow velocity at multiple time points during a single A-line scan, permitting a faster beam scan and image acquisition speed. Such procedure can be used at decreased phase or velocity measurement accuracy, which is likely to be acceptable in many applications.
  • FIGURE 11 illustrates a flow diagram of a conventional method to extract the phase and velocity information from an entire dataset obtained during each wavelength scan.
  • A-line scans, k-th through (k+l)-th are provided.
  • DFT from each of such scans is received, and utilized in the formulas A k (z)e 1(pk(z) and A k (z)e' ⁇ k+1(z) , respectively.
  • a phase image is overlayed to an intensity image if A(z) is larger than a particular threshold.
  • a m (z) denotes the signal amplitude associated with the sample reflectance at a depth z at the m-th A-line scan
  • ⁇ m (z) denotes the signal phase associated with a depth z at the m-th A-line scan
  • ⁇ (z) represents a difference between the phases.
  • FIGURE 12 illustrates a flow diagram of the exemplary embodiment of the process according to the present invention which can be used to obtain the phase and flow information by processing a half of the interference fringe data.
  • A-line scans k- th through (k+l)-th are provided.
  • DFT from each of such scans is received, and utilized in the following formulas, respectively: Ai(z)e i ⁇ l(z) ⁇ ⁇ r>1 (z) , A 2 (z)e i ⁇ 2(z) " ⁇ r ' 2 (z) , etc.
  • Ai(z) and A 2 (z) denote the signal amplitudes obtained from the two different portions of the interference signal acquired in each A-line scan
  • ⁇ i(z) and ⁇ 2 (z) denote the signal phases obtained from the two different portions of the interference signal
  • ⁇ r, i(z) and ⁇ r,2 (z) denote reference phases that may be constants, phases obtained from an auxiliary interferometric signal, or phases associated with a different depth.
  • phase noise associated with sampling timing fluctuations and motion artifacts can be greatly reduced.
  • a phase image is overlayed to an intensity image if A(z) is larger than a particular threshold. This exemplary process can also be applicable to beam-scanning phase microscopy.
  • FIGURES 13 (a) and 13(b) show exemplary images image of the retina obtained from a healthy volunteer.
  • FIGURE 13 (a) illustrates a single exemplary image from a large number of frames consecutively acquired using the exemplary embodiment of the system, process and arrangement according to the present invention.
  • the image frame consists of about 1000 axial lines, and the exemplary image shows the fovea and optic disk of the patient.
  • FIGURE 13(b) shows an exemplary Integrated fundus image produced from multiple cross-sectional images covering an area by integrating the intensity in each depth profile to represent a single point in the fundus image using the exemplary embodiment of the system, process and arrangement according to the present invention.
  • the retinal OFDI imaging was performed at 800-900 run in vivo on a 41 -year-old Caucasian male subject.
  • the exemplary embodiment of the OFDI system, process and arrangement according to the present invention acquired 23 k A-lines continuously over 1-2 seconds as the focused sample beam was scanned over an area including the macular and optic nerve head region in the retina.
  • Each image frame was constructed from 1,000 A-line scans with an inverse grayscale table mapping to the reflectivity range.
  • the anatomical layers in the retina are clearly visualized and correlate well with previously published OCT images and histological findings.

Abstract

Apparatus, arrangement and method are provided for obtaining information associated with an anatomical structure or a sample using optical microscopy. For example, a radiation can be provided which includes at least one first electro-magnetic radiation directed to be provided to an anatomical sample and at least one second electro-magnetic radiation directed to a reference. A wavelength of the radiation can vary over time, and the wavelength is shorter than approximately 1150 nm. An interference can be detected between at least one third radiation associated with the first radiation and at least one fourth radiation associated with the second radiation. At least one image corresponding to at least one portion of the sample can be generated using data associated with the interference. In addition, at least one source arrangement can be provided which is configured to provide an electro-magnetic radiation which has a wavelength that varies over time. A period of a variation of the wavelength of the first electro-magnetic radiation can be shorter than 1 millisecond, and the wavelength is shorter than approximately 1150 nm.

Description

PROCESSES, ARRANGEMENTS AND SYSTEMS FOR PROVIDING FREQUENCY DOMAIN IMAGING OF A SAMPLE
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONfS)
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 60/799,511, filed May 10, 2006, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH
The research leading to the present invention was supported, at least in part, by National Institute of Health - National Cancer Institute, Grant number R33 214033. Thus, the U.S. government may have certain rights in the invention.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to processes, arrangements and systems which obtain information associated with an anatomical structure or a sample using optical microscopy, and more particularly to such methods, systems and arrangements that provide optical frequency domain imaging of the anatomical structure/sample
(e.g., at least one portion of an eye).
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Optical frequency domain imaging ("OFDI"), which may also be known as swept source optical coherence tomography ("OCT"), is a technique associated with OCT concepts that generally uses a wavelength-swept light source to probe the amplitude and phase of back scattering light from tissue. Exemplary OFDI techniques and systems are described in International Application No. PCT/US04/029148. Method and system to determine polarization properties of tissue is described in International Application No. PCT/US05/039374. The OFDI technique can offer intrinsic signal-to-noise ratio ("SNR") advantage over the time- domain techniques because the interference signal can be effectively integrated through a Fourier transform. With the recently developed rapidly tunable lasers in the 1300-nm range, the OFDI technique has enabled significant improvements in, e.g., imaging speed, sensitivity, and ranging depth over the conventional time-domain OCT systems. For example, such OFDI procedures/techniques can be used for imaging skin, coronary artery, esophagus, and anterior eye segments.
While retinal imaging is an established clinical use of the OCT techniques, this application has not been implemented using the OFDI procedures because the optical absorption in the human eye at 1300 nm may be too large. The standard spectral range of the conventional ophthalmic OCT techniques has been between 800 nm and 900 nm where the humors in the eye are transparent and broadband super-luminescent-diode ("SLD") light sources are readily available. It has been has suggested that the 1040-nm spectral range can be a viable alternative operating window for a retinal imaging, and can potentially offer a deeper penetration into the choroidal layers below the highly absorbing and scattering retinal pigment epithelium. The spectral domain ("SD") OCT systems, also known as Fourier domain OCT systems, that use broadband light sources at 800 nm and arrayed spectrometers have been provided to facilitate a three-dimensional retinal imaging in vivo with a superior image acquisition speed and a sensitivity to conventional time-domain OCT techniques.
As compared to the SD-OCT techniques, the OFDI procedures offer several advantages, such as an immunity to motion-induced signal fading, simple polarization-sensitive or diversity scheme, and long ranging depth. However, a clinical-viable OFDI system for imaging posterior eye segments has previously been unavailable, primarily due to the lack of a wide-tuning rapidly-swept light source in a low water absorption window. Indeed, despite the widespread use of the conventional OCT for retinal disease diagnostics, imaging posterior eye segment with OFDI has not been possible.
Accordingly, there is a need to overcome the deficiencies as described herein above.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS
To address and/or overcome the above-described problems and/or deficiencies, exemplary embodiments of systems, arrangements and processes can be provided that are capable of, e.g., utilizing the OFDI techniques to image at least one portion of the eye.
Thus, an exemplary embodiment of OFDI technique, system and process according to the present invention for imaging at least one portion of an eye can be provided. For example, a high-performance swept laser at 1050 nm and an ophthalmic OFDI system can be used that offers a high A-line rate of 19 kHz, sensitivity of >92 dB over a depth range of 2.5 mm with an optical exposure level of 550 μW, and a deep penetration into the choroid. Using the exemplary systems, techniques and arrangements according to the present invention, it is possible to perform comprehensive human retina, optic disk, and choroid imaging in vivo. This can enable a display of a choroidal vasculature in vivo, without exogenous fluorescence contrasts, and may be beneficial for evaluating choroidal as well as retinal diseases. According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an OFDI system can be utilized which uses a swept laser in the 815-870 nm range, which can be used in clinical ophthalmic imaging and molecular contrast-based imaging.
Thus, according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a method, apparatus and software arrangement can be provided for obtaining information associated with an anatomical structure or a sample using optical microscopy. For example, a radiation can be provided which includes at least one first electro-magnetic radiation directed to be provided to an anatomical sample and at least one second electro-magnetic radiation directed to a reference. A wavelength of the radiation can vary over time, and the wavelength is shorter than approximately 1150 nm. An interference can be detected between at least one third radiation associated with the first radiation and at least one fourth radiation associated with the second radiation. At least one image corresponding to at least one portion of the sample can be generated using data associated with the interference.
For example, a period of a variation of the wavelength of the first electro-magnetic radiation can be shorter than 1 millisecond. The anatomical sample can include at least one section of the posterior segment of an eye. The section can include a retina, a choroid, an optic nerve and/or a fovea. The wavelength may be shorter than approximately 950 nm. The wavelength can also vary by at least 10 nm over a period of a variation of the wavelength of the first electro-magnetic radiation. At least one fourth arrangement can also be provided which is capable of scanning the first electro-magnetic radiation laterally across the anatomical sample. The image may be associated with the anatomical structure of the sample and/or a blood and/or a lymphatic flow in the sample. In one exemplary variant, the third arrangement may be capable of (i) obtaining at least one signal associated with at least one phase of at least one frequency component of the interference signal over less than an entire sweep of the wavelength, and (ii) comparing the at least one phase to at least one particular information. The particular information can be associated with a further signal obtained from a sweep of the wavelength that is different from the sweep of the wavelength of the signal. The particular information may be a constant, and/or can be associated with at least one phase of at least one further frequency component of the interference signal over less than an entire sweep of the wavelength. The frequency components may be different from one another.
In another exemplary variant, the third arrangement may be capable of generating a two-dimensional fundus-type reflectivity profile of the anatomic sample and/or a two-dimensional fundus-type image of the anatomic sample based the signal. Another arrangement may be provided which is capable of receiving the first or second electro-magnetic radiations, and providing at least one fifth electro-magnetic radiation associated with the first electro-magnetic radiation and/or the second electro-magnetic radiation The second arrangement may be further capable of detecting a further interference signal between the fifth radiation and the fourth radiation. The second arrangement may be further capable of obtaining at least one reference signal associated with a further phase of at least one first frequency component of the further interference signal over less than an entire sweep of the wavelength. The particular information may be the further phase.
According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, at least one source arrangement can be provided which is configured to provide an electro-magnetic radiation which has a wavelength that varies over time. A period of a variation of the wavelength of the one first electro-magnetic radiation can be shorter than 1 millisecond, and the wavelength is shorter than approximately 1150 nm. A control arrangement which is capable of modulating at least one of an optical gain or an optical loss in the at least one source arrangement over time can be provided. The optical gain may be facilitated by a semiconductor material. Another arrangement can be provided which is configured to effect a gain and/or a loss as a function of the wavelength. The wavelength may vary by at least 10 nm over the period and/or may be shorter than approximately 950 nm.
In yet another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a method, apparatus and software arrangement can be provided. For example, first data can be received for a three-dimensional image of at least one portion of a sample. The first data may be associated with an optical interferometric signal generated from signals obtained from the sample and a reference. A region that is less than an entire portion of the first data can be converted to second data to generate a two-dimensional image which is associated with the portion of the sample. The region can be automatically selected based on at least one characteristic of the sample The entire portion may be associated with an internal structure within the sample (e.g., an anatomical structure). For example, the region may be at least one portion of a retina and/or a choroid. The two-dimensional image may be associated with an integrated reflectivity profile of the region and/or at least one of a blood or a lymphatic vessel network. The region can be automatically selected by determining at least one location of at least one section of the region based a reflectivity in the region. According to a further exemplary embodiment of the present invention, is possible to cause a radiation to be provided which includes at least one first electromagnetic radiation directed to a sample and at least one second electro-magnetic radiation directed to a reference. A wavelength of the radiation varies over time. An interference signal can be detected between at least one third radiation associated with the first radiation and at least one fourth radiation associated with the second radiation. At least one signal associated with at least one phase of at least one frequency component of the interference signal can be obtained over less than an entire sweep of the wavelength. The phase may be compared to at least one particular information.
In one exemplary variant, the first electro-magnetic radiation may be scanned laterally across the sample, which may include at least one section of a posterior segment of an eye. The section can include a retina, a choroid, an optic nerve and/or a fovea. The interference signal may be associated with an integral fraction of the entire sweep of the wavelength. The fraction of the sweep may be a half or a quarter of the sweep. The signal may be associated with a flow velocity and/or an anatomical structure in the sample. The particular information may be associated with a further signal obtained from a sweep of the wavelength that is different from the sweep of the wavelength of the signal. The particular information may be a constant and/or may be associated with at least one phase of at least one further frequency component of the interference signal over less than an entire sweep of the wavelength. The frequency components may be different from one another. These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention, when taken in conjunction with the appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures showing illustrative embodiments of the invention, in which:
FIGURE l(a) is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a wavelength-swept laser system according to the present invention;
FIGURE l(b) is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of an interferometric system according to the present invention;
FIGURE 2(a) is a graph illustrating measured output characteristics of a peak-hold output spectrum and an optical absorption in water for a particular propagation distance corresponding to a roundtrip in typical human vitreous;
FIGURE 2(b) is a graph illustrating measured output characteristics of a time-domain output trace;
FIGURE 3 is a graph illustrating point spread functions measured at various path length differences;
FIGURE 4 is an exemplary image of retina and choroid obtained from a healthy volunteer using the exemplary embodiment of the . system, process and arrangement according to the present invention; FIGURE 5 (a) is a first exemplary OFDI image at fovea and optic nerve head of a patient A produced by an exemplary system at one location;
FIGURE 5(b) is a second exemplary OFDI image at the fovea and the optic nerve head of the patient A produced by another exemplary system at such location;
FIGURE 5(c) is a first exemplary SD-OCT image at the fovea and the optic nerve head of the patient A as a similar location produced by an exemplary system according to the present invention;
FIGURE 5(d) is a second exemplary SD-OCT image at the fovea and the optic nerve head of the patient A as the location of FIGURE 5(c) produced by an exemplary system according to the present invention;
FIGURE 5(e) is a third exemplary OFDI image obtained from a patient B produced by another exemplary system according to the present invention;
FIGURE 5(f) is a fourth exemplary OFDI image obtained from the patient B produced by a further exemplary system according to the present invention;
FIGURE 6A is an exemplary two-dimensional reflectance image of the retinal and choroidal vasculature extracted from the three-dimensional OFDI data set associated with the image of FIGURE 4 obtained by a conventional full-range integration method;
FIGURE 6B is an exemplary fundus-type reflectivity image obtained using an exemplary embodiment of an axial-sectioning integration technique; FIGURE 6C is an exemplary retinal reflectivity image showing a shadow of a blood vasculature;
FIGURE 6C is an exemplary reflectivity image obtained from an upper part of the choroids;
FIGURE 6E is an exemplary image of an exemplary reflectivity image integrated from a center of the choroid showing a choroidal vasculature;
FIGURE 7(a) is a schematic diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the wavelength-swept laser arrangement according to the present invention;
FIGURE 7(b) is a graph of a peak-hold output spectrum of the signals generated using the exemplary embodiment of FIGURE 7(a);
FIGURE 7(c) is a graph of a oscilloscope trace generated using the exemplary embodiment of FIGURE 7(a);
FIGURE 8(a) is a graph of a sensitivity measured as a function of a reference power;
FIGURE 8(b) is a graph of a sensitivity measured as a function of a depth;
FIGURE 9 is an exemplary OFDI image of a Xenopus laevis tadpole in vivo acquired using another exemplary embodiment of the system, arrangement and process according to the present invention;
FIGURE 10(a) is a graph of an exemplary output of a shaped spectra without a gain/loss modulation generated as a function of wavelength using another exemplary embodiment of the system, arrangement and process according to the present invention;
FIGURE 10(b) is a graph of an exemplary output of the shaped spectra with the gain/loss modulation generated as a function of wavelength using an exemplary embodiment of the system, arrangement and process according to the present invention;
FIGURE 11 is a flow diagram of a conventional method to obtain Doppler OFDI signals;
FIGURE 12 is a flow diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a process to obtain Doppler OFDI signals by processing a portion of an interference fringe according to the present invention;
FIGURE 13 (a) is an exemplary single image of the retina which includes the fovea and optic disk obtained from a healthy volunteer consecutively acquired at a large number of frames; and
FIGURE 13(b) is an exemplary integrated fundus image of the retina generated from multiple cross-sectional images covering an area by integrating the intensity in each depth profile.
Throughout the figures, the same reference numerals and characters, unless otherwise stated, are used to denote like features, elements, components or portions of the illustrated embodiments. Moreover, while the subject invention will now be described in detail with reference to the figures, it is done so in connection with the illustrative embodiments. It is intended that changes and modifications can be made to the described embodiments without departing from the true scope and spirit of the subject invention as defined by the appended claims.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS
First Exemplary Embodiment of Laser Source System
FIGURE l(a) depicts an exemplary embodiment of a laser source system (e.g., which can include a 1050 nm swept laser source) provided in a linear cavity configuration according to the present invention. As shown in this figure, a gain medium 10 can be provided, such as a bi-directional semiconductor optical amplifier (QPhotonics, Inc., QSOA-1050) which may be driven at an injection current level of 400 mA. One port of the amplifier can be coupled to a wavelength-scanning filter 20 that may comprise a diffraction grating 30 (1200 lines/mm), a telescope consisting of two lenses 40, 42 with respective focal lengths of 100 and 50 mm, and a polygon mirror scanner 50 (e.g., Lincoln Lasers, Inc., 40 facets). The design bandwidth and free spectral range of the filter can be approximately 0.1 nm and 61 nm, respectively. The amplifier's other port can be spliced to connect to a loop mirror which may include a 50/50 coupler 60. A Sagnac loop 70 can also act as an output coupler.
The reflectivity and output coupling ratio can be complementary, and may be optimized by adjusting a polarization controller 80 to tune the amount of the birefringence-induced non-reciprocity in the loop. The linear-cavity configuration can also be used instead of or together with conventional ring cavity designs, since low- loss low-cost circulators and isolators may not be readily available at 1050 nm. Sweep repetition rates of up to 36 kHz may be achieved with 100% duty cycle, which may represent a significant improvement over previously demonstrated swept lasers in the 1050 nm region that offered tuning rates of <1 kHz. In an OFDI system according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the laser can be operated at a wavelength sweep rate of about 18.8 kHz, thus producing a polarized output with an average output power of 2.7 mW.
Exemplary Embodiment of Imaging System
FIGURE l(b) depicts an exemplary embodiment of an optical frequency domain imaging (OFDI) system according to the present invention. For example, it is possible to use a swept laser can be used as a light source 100. This exemplary system further comprises a fiber-optic interferometer 110, a beam scanner 120, a detector 130 and a computerHO. A sample arm 150 (e.g., 30% port) can be connected to a two-axis galvanometer scanner apparatus 120 which may be designed for a retinal imaging. A focal beam size can be approximately 10 μm in tissue (e.g., index = 1.38). The optical power level at an entrance pupil of an eye 160 can be measured to be about 550 μW, which is well below the 1.9-mW maximum exposure level at λ=1050 nm according to the ANSI laser safety standards. A reference arm 170 (e.g., 70% port) can utilize a transmission-type variable delay line 180 and a 10% tap coupler 182 to generate sampling trigger signals for acquiring data.
As shown in FIGURE 1 (b), a neutral density (ND) attenuator 184 may be used to obtain an optimal reference-arm power. Light returning from the sample can be combined with the reference light at a 50/50 coupler 190. Resulting interference signals can be measured using an InGaAs dual-balanced detector 140 (e.g., New Focus, Inc., 1811). A signal provided by the balanced detector 140 can be further amplified (e.g., by 10 dB), low-pass filtered, and digitized at 10 MS/s using, e.g., a 12-bit data acquisition board (National Instruments, Inc., PCI-6115). For example, when sampling a 512 samples during each A-line scan, the imaging depth range determined by the spectral sampling interval can be about 2.44 mm in air.
Exemplary Laser Output Characteristics
Figure 2(a) depicts an exemplary output spectrum measured using an optical spectrum analyzer in peak-hold mode (with resolution = 0.1 nm). The exemplary output spectrum spanned from 1019 to 1081 nm over a range of 62 nm determined by the free spectral range of the filter. The spectral range coincided with a local transparent window of the eye. The roundtrip optical absorption in human vitreous and aqueous humors can be estimated to be between about 2dB and 5 dB based on known absorption characteristics of water (as shown in FIGURE 2(a)). Using a variable-delay Michelson interferometer, it is possible to measure the coherence length of the laser output, defined as the roundtrip delay resulting in 50% visibility, to be approximately 4.4 mm in air. From this value, it is possible to determine an instantaneous line width of laser output to be 0.11 nm. In FIGURE 2(a), a peak-hold output spectrum 200 and an optical absorption curve 205 are provided in water for a 42-mm propagation distance corresponding to a roundtrip in a typical human vitreous.
Figure 2(b) shows a graph of a time domain exemplary oscilloscope output trace 210 of a laser output indicating 100% tuning duty cycle at 18.8 kHz (single shot, 5-MHz detection bandwidth). The y-axis of the trace graph of FIGURE 2(b) represents an instantaneous optical power. The total power of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) in the output, measured by blocking the intracavity beam in the polygon filter, is shown as about 1.1 mW. Since ASE is significantly suppressed during lasing, it is expected that the ASE level in the laser output may be negligible. The laser output exhibited significant intensity fluctuations (~10%pp) due to an etalon effect originating from relatively large facet reflections at the SOA chip with a thickness equivalent to 2.5 mm in air. In the exemplary embodiment of the imaging system, the etalon effect can cause ghost images (-30 dB) by optical aliasing.
Exemplary Sensitivity and Resolution of Imaging System
An exemplary embodiment of the OFDI system and exemplary optimized operating parameters can be provided to maximize the SNR using a partial reflector (neutral density filter and metal mirror) as a sample. An exemplary preferable reference arm power for maximal SNR may be 2.6 μW at each detection port. This relatively low value can be attributed to the relatively large intensity noise of the laser that may not be completely suppressed in the dual balanced detection. Exemplary data processing according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention can include reference subtraction, envelope apodization or windowing, interpolation to correct for nonlinear k-space tuning, and dispersion correction. For example, subtracting the reference from the interference signals can eliminate image artifacts due to a non-uniform spectral envelope of the laser source. Apodizing the interference fringes by imposing a appropriate windowing technique can decrease the sidebands of point spread functions and improve image contrast.
This exemplary embodiment of the process according to the present invention may come at a resolution loss and SNR (due to a reduced integration time). It is possible to use a Gaussian window to yield a desirable compromise in contrast and resolution (e.g., at 1050-nm ). Since the detector signal may not be sampled in constant time intervals, whereas the tuning curve of our laser was not linear in k- space, interpolating the interference signal may be preferable to reduce or avoid image blurring. Upon completing the exemplary interpolation, the signal may be further corrected for the chromatic dispersion in the interferometer as well as in the sample, e.g., by multiplying a predetermined phase function.
FIGURE 3 shows exemplary A-line profiles and/or point spread functions 220 measured at various path length differences of the interferometer. For this measurement, we used a neutral density attenuator (73 dB) and gold-coated mirror in the sample arm, and the path length was varied by moving the reference mirror. The maximum SNR is 25 dB that corresponds to a maximum sensitivity of 98 dB. The theoretical shot-noise limit of sensitivity is calculated to be 109 dB; the 11- dB deficiency in sensitivity of our system seems reasonable, considering that the residual laser intensity noise, imperfect polarization alignment between the sample and reference light, and Gaussian windowing, among many other practical details, contributed to SNR loss. For example, to facilitate the exemplary SNR analysis, each exemplary curve plotted was obtained by an average over 500 consecutive scans at a constant depth, and a simple numerical subtraction was performed to make the noise floor flat. Ghost artifacts marked as asterisks 230 were caused by the etalon effect in the laser source are shown in this figure.
As indicated in FIGURE 3, the sensitivity was decreased to 92 dB as the path length increased to a depth of 2.4 mm, due to the finite coherence length of the laser output. As compared to the conventional time-domain systems that use a broadband source at 1040 nm, the exemplary embodiment of the system according to the present invention provides a higher sensitivity, e.g., at a 100-fold faster image acquisition speed and one sixth of sample arm power. The high sensitivity and depth range of the exemplary embodiment of the system according to the present invention compare favorably with exemplary SD-OCT systems that use broadband sources in the 800 - 900 nm spectral range. Due to the absorption by water in the eye, the actual SNR for the human retina is likely 3-4 dB lower than the values measured with the mirror sample. Based on the source spectrum (as shown in FIGURE 2(a)) and the Gaussian window function used, the theoretical axial resolution can be determined to be about 13 μm in air; the measured values may be 14 - 16 μm, increasing with the depth. Errors in interpolation and dispersion compensation due to higher order terms may account for the discrepancy.
Exemplary Video-rate Imaging of Retina, Optic Disk, and Choroid in vivo
Exemplary OFDI imaging was conducted on two healthy volunteers
(A: 36-year-old Asian male, B: 41 -year-old Caucasian male) using the exemplary embodiments of the system, process and arrangement according to the present invention. The exemplary OFDI system acquired 18,800 A-lines continuously over 10-20 seconds as the focused sample beam was scanned over an area of 6 mm (horizontal) by 5.2 mm (vertical) across the macular region in the retina. Figure 4 shows a sequence 250 of images of the fovea and optic disk of the sample recorded from volunteer A at a frame rate of 18.8 Hz in 10.6 seconds. Each image frame was constructed from 1,000 A-line scans with an inverse grayscale table mapping to the reflectivity range over 47 dB, with each frame spanning over 6.0 mm (horizontal) and 1.8 mm (depth) in tissue. For example, 200 frames were acquired in 10.6 seconds to screen a tissue area with a vertical span of 5.2 mm. The anatomical layers in the retina are visualized and correlate well with previously published OCT images and histological findings. Figure 5A depicts an expanded exemplary image of fovea extracted from the three-dimensional data set using the exemplary embodiments of the system, process and arrangement according to the present invention. The exemplary OFDI image of FIGURE 5A indicates a deep penetration into the choroid nearly up to the interface with the sclera, visualizing densely-packed choroidal capillaries and vessels.
To assess the penetration of the exemplary embodiments of the system, process and arrangement according to the present invention, the two volunteers A and B can be three-dimensionally imaged using both the OFDI system and the SD-OCT system previously developed for video-rate retinal imaging. The SD-OCT system employed a super luminescent diode with a center wavelength of 840 nm and a 3-dB spectral bandwidth of 50 nm, offering an axial resolution of 8 - 9 nm in air. At an A- line rate of 29 kHz and a sample arm power level of 600 μW, the SD-OCT system offered a peak sensitivity of 98 dB at zero delay that decreased to 82 dB at the maximum ranging depth of 2.2 mm in air.
Figures 5A-5F illustrate side-by-side comparisons of the OFDI and
SD-OCT images near the foveae and optic disks of the two volunteers A and B. For example, FIGURES 5A and 5C shows OFDI images at fovea and optic nerve head from the volunteer A. FIGURES 5B and 5D illustrate SD-OCT images from the same person at similar tissue locations. FIGURES 5E and 5F provide the OFDI and SD- OCT images, respectively, obtained from volunteer B. For example, as shown, the OFDI images exhibit considerably deeper penetration in tissue than the SD-OCT images in most if not in all data sets. Such large penetration depth may stem from both the high system sensitivity and long source wavelength. Despite the relatively large axial resolution of ~11 μm in tissue, the OFDI system can visualize the anatomical layered structure in the retina (as shown in FIGURE 5A), RNFL, retinal nerve fiber layer, IPL, inner plexiform layer, INL; inner nuclear layer, OPL; outer plexiform layer, ONL; outer nuclear layer, IPRL; interface between the inner and outer segments of the photoreceptor layer, RPE; retinal pigmented epithelium, and C; choriocapillaris and choroid.
As shown in these figures, the OFDI images exhibit considerably deeper penetration into the choroid compared to the SD-OCT images, whereas the higher axial resolution in the SD-OCT images provide better contrast between retinal layers. The lower absorption and scattering in RPE at 1050 nm than 840 nm may account for the apparently superior penetration of the OFDI system to the SD-OCT system with a comparable sensitivity.
Visualization of Retinal/Choroidal Vasculature with OFDI Techniques/Systems
With the three-dimensional tomographic data of the eye's posterior segment, the pixel values along the entire depth axis can be integrated to produce a two-dimensional fundus-type reflectivity image. FIGURE 6A shows an exemplary integrated reflectivity image generated from the entire OFDI image sequence shown in FIGURE 4, with the image being two-dimensional reflectance image (5.3 x 5.2 mm2) obtained with the conventional full-range integration method. The exemplary image shows the exemplary optical nerve head, fovea, retinal vessels, and an outline of the deep choroidal vasculature. However, the depth information is not indicated. To address this deficiency of the image generated by a conventional method, it is possible to integrate only selective regions according to using the exemplary embodiment of the system, process and arrangement of the present invention. For example, according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, in order to visualize the retinal vasculature with a maximum contrast, it is possible to integrate the reflectivity in the range between IPRL and RPE 260, 270 as shown in FIGURE 6B. This figure shows an Illustration of an exemplary embodiment of a axial-sectioning integration technique for producing fundus-type reflectivity images. The shadow or loss of signal created by the retinal vessels above can appear most distinctly. Integrating over the entire retina including the vessel often results in a lower contrast in the vasculature because retinal blood vessels produce large signals by strong scattering. Automatic image processing conveniently allowed for automatic segmentations of the IPRL and RPE layers 260, 270.
FIGURE 6C depicts an exemplary reflectivity image (shadow) of a blood vasculature (3.8 x 5.2 mm2) of the retina vessels . Using the thin integration region below the RPE, it is also possible to obtain fundus-type reflectivity images of the choriocapillary layer containing abundant small blood vessels and pigment cells obtained from an upper part of the choroid, as shown in FIGURE 6D. To obtain an image of the complete choroidal region, it is possible to utilize an integration range indicated by references 280 and 290 of FIGURE 6B. The choroidal vasculature is shown in the exemplary resulting reflectivity image of FIGURE 6E which is an exemplary reflectivity image integrated from the center of the choroid revealing the choroidal vasculature. Reflectivity images with similar qualities can be obtained from volunteer B.
Exemplary Implementation of Exemplary Embodiments of Invention Experimental results show that the images generated using the exemplary OFDI techniques at 1050 nm can provide a comprehensive imaging of the human retina and choroid with high resolution and contrast. However, the exemplary embodiment of the OFDI system according to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention may provide an order-of-magnitude higher image acquisition speed than with the use of the conventional time-domain OCT systems, and avails the choroid images with an enhanced contrast in comparison to the SD-OCT system at 840 nm. The enhanced penetration makes it possible to obtain depth-sectioned reflectivity images of the choroid capillary and vascular networks. Fundus camera or scanning laser ophthalmoscope have been conventionally used to view vasculatures. However, such methods may require fluoresce in or indocyanine green angiography to have access to the choroid except for patients with significantly low level of pigmentations.
The exemplary OFDI system according to the present invention includes a wavelength-swept laser produced using, e.g., a commercial SOA and custom-built intracavity scanning filter, such laser's output power, tuning speed and range may yield a sensitivity of about 98 dB, A-line rate of 19 kHz, and resolution of
10 μm in tissue. Increasing the saturation power and gain of SOA and reducing the extended-cavity loss can possibly further improve the sensitivity and resolution (tuning range). For example, the power exposure level of the exemplary embodiment of the system according to the present invention can be only 550 μW, whereas the maximum ANSI limit at 1050 nm is likely to be 1.9 mW.
Exemplary Embodiment of Swept Laser Source FIGURE 7 (a) shows another exemplary embodiment of a swept laser source arrangement according to the present invention, e.g., in the 815-870 nm spectral range. The swept laser source arrangement can include a fiber-optic unidirectional ring cavity 300 with a free-space isolator 310. The gain medium 320 may be a commercially-available semiconductor optical amplifier (e.g., SOA-372- 850-SM, Superlum Diodes Ltd.). An intracavity spectral filter 330 can be provided which may comprise a diffractive grating (e.g., 830 grooves/mm) 332, two achromatic lenses 334, 336 in the 4/ configuration, and a 72-facet polygon mirror 340 (Lincoln lasers, Inc.). The polygon can be rotated at about 600 revolutions per second to produce unidirectional sweeps from short to long wavelengths at a repetition rate of 43.2 kHz.
The free-space collimated beam in the cavity may have a size of about 1 mm FWHM (full width at half maximum). The beam incident angle to the grating normal can be 67 deg. The focal lengths of the two lenses 334, 336 in the telescope can be 75 (/!) and 40 (Z2) mm, respectively. It is possible to predict a free-spectral range of 55 nm and FWHM filter bandwidth of 0.17 nm. The laser output can be obtained via a 70% port of a fiber-optic coupler 350. Two polarization controllers 360, 362 can be used to maximize the output power and tuning range.
For example, it is possible to measure the spectral and temporal characteristics of the laser output at a sweep rate of about 43.2 kHz. The SOA may be driven with an injection current of about 110 mA. FIGURE 7(b) shows an exemplary output spectrum 380, 385 measured with an exemplary optical spectrum analyzer in a peak-hold mode at a resolution bandwidth of 0.1 nm. The total tuning range is 55 nm from 815 to 870 nm with a FWHM bandwidth of 38 nm. A stability of the output power is provided in the single-shot oscilloscope trace 390 as shown in FIGURE 7(c) provided at a about 43.2 kHz sweep rate and 7mW averaged power. The peak power variation across tuning cycles may be less than 1%. The instantaneous laser emission can contain multiple longitudinal modes.
An exemplary measurement of the coherence length (as shown in
FIGURE 3(b)) can indicate that the FWHM line width may be approximately 0.17 nm corresponding to the filter bandwidth. The intensity noise characteristic of the laser output may further be characterized by using an electrical spectrum analyzer (e.g., Model, Agilent) and low-gain Silicon detector. The measured relative intensity noise can range from about -125 dB/Hz to -135 dB/Hz decreasing with the frequency in the frequency range of about 2 MHz to 10 MHz. The noise peaks due to longitudinal mode beating can appear at 91 MHz. The time-average output power may be about 6.9 mW.
The large output coupling ratio of the exemplary embodiment of the laser source arrangement, e.g., about 70%, can ensure that the peak power at the SOA does not exceed about 20 mW, e.g., the specified optical damage threshold of the
SOA. When this condition is not satisfied, a sudden catastrophic or slowly progressing damage may occur at the output facet of SOA chip. Increasing the optical damage threshold of the 800-nm SOA chips, e.g., by new chip designs, can improve the tuning range as well as the long-term reliability. The output may contain a broadband amplified spontaneous emission that can occupy ~8% (about 0.56 mW) of the total average power. Exemplary Imaging System
An exemplary embodiment of the OFDI system according to the present invention can be provided using the exemplary wavelength-swept laser arrangement. The configuration of the exemplary system can be similar to the system shown in FIGURE l(b). The laser output can be split into two paths in an interferometer by a 30/70 coupler. In one path (e.g., 30% port, termed "sample arm") may illuminate a biological sample via a two-axis galvanometer scanner (e.g., Model,
Cambridge Technologies). The other path, "reference arm," generally provides a reference beam. The signal beam returning from the sample by backscattering is combined with the reference beam at, e.g., a 50/50 coupler, thus producing interference.
The interference signal may be detected with a dual-balanced silicon receiver (e.g., DC-80 MHz, 1807-FS, New Focus). The receiver output is low-pass filtered (35 MHz) and digitized at a sampling rate of 100 MS/s with a 14-bit data acquisition board (e.g., DAQ, NI-5122, National Instruments). A small portion (10%) of the reference beam can be tapped and detected through a grating filter to provide triggers to the DAQ board. During each wavelength sweep or A-line scan, a large number, e.g., 2048 samples can be acquired. The sampled data may initially be stored in an on-board memory or on another storage device.
Upon collecting a desired number of A-line scans, the data set may be transferred to a host personal computer, either to the memory/storage arrangement for on-line processing and/or display or to the hard disk for post processing. When only a single frame is acquired at a time, the exemplary system is capable of processing and displaying the image frame in real time at a frame refresh rate of about 5 Hz. For larger data sets, an exemplary 256 MB on-board memory provides for acquisition of up to 65,536 A-line scans consecutively for about 1.3 sec. This corresponds to about 128 image frames, each consisting of 512 A-lines. Post data processing techniques can include reference subtraction, apodization, interpolation into a linear k-space, and dispersion compensation prior to Fourier transforms.
To characterize and optimize the exemplary embodiment of the system, process and arrangement according to the present invention, it is possible to use an axial point spread function (or A-line) by using a partial mirror as the sample (-50 dB reflectivity). FIGURE 8(a) shows a graph 400 of the sensitivity of the exemplary system measured as a function of the reference optical power. The reference power can be varied by using a variable neutral density (ND) filter in the reference arm. Throughout this measurement, for example, the path length difference between the sample and reference arms may be about 0.6 mm, and the optical power returning from the attenuated sample mirror can be 3.3 nW at each port of the 50/50 coupler. The sensitivity values may be determined by adding the sample attenuation (e.g., about 50 dB) to the measured signal-to-noise ratios (SNR). The reference power can be measured at one of the ports of the 50/50 coupler, corresponding to the time- average reference power at each photodiode. At reference powers between about 30 μW and 200 μW, a maximum sensitivity of -96 dB may be obtained.
The sensitivity in the unit of decibel may be expressed as:
SdB = S0 - 10log10(1 + a I P1. + P1. I b) - A , where So denotes the shot-noise limited
sensitivity, P1. is the reference power level, α and b correspond to the reference power levels at which the thermal and intensity noise, respectively, become equal to that of the shot noise in magnitude, and Δ can be a fitting parameter associated with other factors contributing to the loss of sensitivity. Taking into account amplified spontaneous emission, So may be about 107 dB. For example, a = 17 μW from the detector noise level (e.g., 3.3 pA/VHz) and conversion efficiency (e.g., 1 AfW). Based on the relative intensity noise of the laser (e.g., -130 dB/Hz) and an 18-dB common- noise suppression efficiency of the balanced receiver, b = 280 μW. For example, the best fit to the experimental data 410 of FIGURE 8(b) can be obtained with Δ = 8 dB. FIGURE 8(b) shows a graph of the sensitivity 420 measured as a function of depth. This exemplary value may be largely attributed to the simplified model assuming a flat reference spectrum, a polarization mismatch between the sample and the reference light, and the apodization step in data processing, each possibly contributing to a loss of sensitivity by a couple of dB's.
Due to a finite coherence length of the laser source, the sensitivity can decrease as the interferometric delay increases. It is possible to measure axial point spread functions at various depth locations of the sample mirror by changing the delay in the reference arm while maintaining the reference power at about 100 μW per photodiode, as shown in the graph of FIGURE 8(b). For example, each axial profile can be calibrated by measuring the noise floor obtained by blocking the sample arm, and then matching the noise floor to a 50 dB level. In this manner, the modest frequency or depth dependence (~ 2 dB) of the noise floor can be reduced or eliminated. Thus, the sensitivity can drop by about 6 dB at a depth of about 1.9 mm. From a Gaussian fit (dashed line), the instantaneous laser line width may be about 0.17 nm. The FWHM of the axial profile, or the axial resolution in air, can be about 8 μm in the depth from zero to B mm. This corresponds to an axial resolution of ~6 μm in tissue imaging (e.g., refractive index, n ~ 1.35). As an example, to confirm and demonstrate the capabilities of the exemplary embodiment of the system, process and arrangement according to the present invention for high-speed high-resolution biological imaging, images of Xenopus laevis tadpoles may be obtained in vivo by scanning the sample beam (B- mode scan). The sample beam can have a confocal parameter of about 250 μm and a FWHM beam size of approximately 7 μm at the focus in air (n = 1). The optical power on the sample may be about 2.4 mW. During the imaging procedure, the tadpole (stage 46) can be under anesthesia in a water bath by a drop of about 0.02% 3- aminobenzoic acid ethyl ester (MS-222).
Figure 9 shows a sequence of images 450 obtained as the beam is scanned in one dimension repeatedly over the ventricle in the heart. The image sequence was acquired at a frame rate of 84.4 Hz (512 A-lines per frame) in the duration of 1.2 s, but is displayed at a reduced rate of 24 frames per second. Each frame, cropped from the original (500 x 1024 pixels), has 400 x 200 pixels and spans a dimension of 3.3 mm (horizontal) by 1.1 mm (depth, n = 1.35). The motion of the ventricle including trabeculae can be seen. The ability to image the beating heart with high spatial and temporal resolution may be useful for investigating normal and abnormal cardiac developments in vivo. Combined with contrast agents such ICG and gold nano particles developed in the 800-nm region, the exemplary embodiment of the OFDI system, process and arrangement according to the present invention can enable high-speed functional or molecular imaging.
Exemplary Laser Current Modulation
An exemplary preferred light source arrangement for OFDI imaging generally has a flat output spectrum. To obtain such desired spectral profile, it is possible to modulate the gain or loss of a gain medium or a filter inside or outside a laser cavity. The filter may be a broadband variable attenuator, and its transmission may be controlled synchronously with laser tuning. The exemplary filter may be a passive spectral filter with a desired transmission spectrum. The gain medium can preferably be a semiconductor optical amplifier, and its gain may be varied by modulating the injection current to the amplifier synchronously with filter tuning. FIGURES 10(a) and 10(b) illustrate graphs of exemplary output tuning traces 480, 490 without and with the use of an exemplary embodiment of a modulation method according to the present invention, respectively. This exemplary method can also be effective to maximize or at least increase the output power and tuning range for a given optical damage threshold of the semiconductor gain chip.
Exemplary Flow Measurement
The ability to detect and quantify the blood flow in the eye retina and choroid can have impacts in several clinical applications such as for an evaluation of age-related macular degeneration. Several methods of extracting the flow information from the phase of the OFDI signals are known in the art. These exemplary conventional methods, however, require a significant beam overlap between two consecutive A-line scans- over sampling, thus causing undesirable compromise between the phase accuracy and image acquisition speed. Using the exemplary embodiment of the system, process and arrangement according to the present invention, instead of comparing the phase values of two A-line scans, it is possible to extract multiple phase values corresponding to different time points or wavelengths within a single A-line and compare the values with reference phase values. This exemplary procedure provides for a measurement of the flow velocity at multiple time points during a single A-line scan, permitting a faster beam scan and image acquisition speed. Such procedure can be used at decreased phase or velocity measurement accuracy, which is likely to be acceptable in many applications.
FIGURE 11 illustrates a flow diagram of a conventional method to extract the phase and velocity information from an entire dataset obtained during each wavelength scan. As shown in FIGURE 10, A-line scans, k-th through (k+l)-th are provided. In step 510, DFT from each of such scans is received, and utilized in the formulas Ak(z)e1(pk(z) and Ak(z)e'φk+1(z), respectively. Then, using the determined results in step 510, the following determination is made in step 520: Δ(z) = ς>k+i(z) - Φk(z). Then, in step 530, a phase image is overlayed to an intensity image if A(z) is larger than a particular threshold. Here, Am(z) denotes the signal amplitude associated with the sample reflectance at a depth z at the m-th A-line scan, φm(z) denotes the signal phase associated with a depth z at the m-th A-line scan, and Δ(z) represents a difference between the phases.
FIGURE 12 illustrates a flow diagram of the exemplary embodiment of the process according to the present invention which can be used to obtain the phase and flow information by processing a half of the interference fringe data. For example, similarly to the conventional method shown in FIGURE 11, A-line scans, k- th through (k+l)-th are provided. Then, in step 560, DFT from each of such scans is received, and utilized in the following formulas, respectively: Ai(z)eiφl(z) ~ φr>1 (z), A2(z)eiφ2(z) " φr'2 (z), etc. Using the results obtained from step 560, the following determination is made in step 570: Δ(z) = Cp1(Z) - φ2(z) + φr,i(z) - φr,2(z). Here, Ai(z) and A2(z) denote the signal amplitudes obtained from the two different portions of the interference signal acquired in each A-line scan, φi(z) and φ2(z) denote the signal phases obtained from the two different portions of the interference signal, and φr,i(z) and φr,2(z) denote reference phases that may be constants, phases obtained from an auxiliary interferometric signal, or phases associated with a different depth. By subtracting the reference phases from the signal phases, phase noise associated with sampling timing fluctuations and motion artifacts can be greatly reduced. Further, in step 580, a phase image is overlayed to an intensity image if A(z) is larger than a particular threshold. This exemplary process can also be applicable to beam-scanning phase microscopy.
FIGURES 13 (a) and 13(b) show exemplary images image of the retina obtained from a healthy volunteer. For example, FIGURE 13 (a) illustrates a single exemplary image from a large number of frames consecutively acquired using the exemplary embodiment of the system, process and arrangement according to the present invention. The image frame consists of about 1000 axial lines, and the exemplary image shows the fovea and optic disk of the patient. FIGURE 13(b) shows an exemplary Integrated fundus image produced from multiple cross-sectional images covering an area by integrating the intensity in each depth profile to represent a single point in the fundus image using the exemplary embodiment of the system, process and arrangement according to the present invention.
As shown in these figures, the retinal OFDI imaging was performed at 800-900 run in vivo on a 41 -year-old Caucasian male subject. The exemplary embodiment of the OFDI system, process and arrangement according to the present invention acquired 23 k A-lines continuously over 1-2 seconds as the focused sample beam was scanned over an area including the macular and optic nerve head region in the retina. Each image frame was constructed from 1,000 A-line scans with an inverse grayscale table mapping to the reflectivity range. The anatomical layers in the retina are clearly visualized and correlate well with previously published OCT images and histological findings.
The foregoing merely illustrates the principles of the invention. Various modifications and alterations to the described embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the teachings herein. Indeed, the arrangements, systems and methods according to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention can be used with any OCT system, OFDI system, SD-OCT system or other imaging systems, and for example with those described in International Patent Application PCT/US2004/029148, filed September 8, 2004, U.S. Patent Application No. 11/266,779, filed November 2, 2005, and U.S. Patent Application No. 10/501,276, filed July 9, 2004, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise numerous systems, arrangements and methods which, although not explicitly shown or described herein, embody the principles of the invention and are thus within the spirit and scope of the present invention. In addition, to the extent that the prior art knowledge has not been explicitly incorporated by reference herein above, it is explicitly being incorporated herein in its entirety. All publications referenced herein above are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Claims

What Is Claimed Is:
1. An apparatus comprising: at least one first arrangement configured to provide a radiation which includes at least one first electro-magnetic radiation directed to an anatomical sample and at least one second electro-magnetic radiation directed to a reference, wherein a wavelength of the radiation provided by the at least one first arrangement varies over time, and the wavelength is shorter than approximately 1150 nm; at least one second arrangement capable of detecting an interference between at least one third radiation associated with the at least one first radiation and at least one fourth radiation associated with the at least one second radiation; and at least one third arrangement capable of generating at least one image corresponding to at least one portion of the sample using data associated with the interference.
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a period of a variation of the wavelength of the at least one first electro-magnetic radiation is shorter than 1 millisecond.
3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the anatomical sample includes at least one section of the posterior segment of an eye.
4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the at least one section includes at least one of a retina, a choroid, an optic nerve, or a fovea.
5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wavelength is shorter than approximately 950 nm.
6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wavelength varies by at least 10 nm over a period of a variation of the wavelength of the at least one first electromagnetic radiation.
7. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising at least one fourth arrangement which is capable of scanning the at least one first electro-magnetic radiation laterally across the anatomical sample.
8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one image is associated with the anatomical structure of the sample.
9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the at least one image is further associated with at least one of a blood or a lymphatic flow in the sample.
10. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one third arrangement is capable of (i) obtaining at least one signal associated with at least one phase of at least one frequency component of the interference signal over less than an entire sweep of the wavelength, and (ii) comparing the at least one phase to at least one particular information.
11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the at least one particular information is associated with a further signal obtained from a sweep of the wavelength that is different from the sweep of the wavelength of the at least one signal.
12. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the at least one particular information is a constant.
13. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the at least one particular information is associated with at least one phase of at least one further frequency component of the interference signal over less than an entire sweep of the wavelength, and wherein the frequency components are different from one another.
14. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one third arrangement is capable of generating a two-dimensional fundus-type reflectivity profile of the anatomic sample.
15. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the at least one third arrangement is capable of generating a two-dimensional fundus-type image of the anatomic sample based the at least one signal.
16. The apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising at least on fourth arrangement capable of receiving the at least one of the first or second electro-magnetic radiations, and providing at least one fifth electromagnetic radiation associated with the at least one of the first electro-magnetic radiation or the second electro-magnetic radiation, wherein the at least one second arrangement is further capable of detecting a further interference signal between the at least one fifth radiation and the at least one fourth radiation, wherein the at least one second arrangement is further capable of obtaining at least one reference signal associated with a further phase of at least one first frequency component of the further interference signal over less than an entire sweep of the wavelength.
17. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the at least one particular information is the further phase.
18. A method comprising: causing a radiation which includes at least one first electro-magnetic radiation directed to be provided to an anatomical sample and at least one second electro-magnetic radiation directed to a reference, wherein a wavelength of the radiation varies over time, and the wavelength is shorter than approximately 1150 nm; detecting an interference between at least one third radiation associated with the at least one first radiation and at least one fourth radiation associated with the at least one second radiation; and generating at least one image corresponding to at least one portion of the sample using data associated with the interference.
19. A software arrangement comprising: a first set of instructions which, when executed by a processing arrangement, causes a radiation which includes at least one first electro-magnetic radiation directed to be provided to an anatomical sample and at least one second electro-magnetic radiation directed to a reference, wherein a wavelength of the radiation varies over time, and the wavelength is shorter than approximately 1150 nm; a second set of instructions which, when executed by the processing arrangement, causes a detection of an interference between at least one third radiation associated with the at least one first radiation and at least one fourth radiation associated with the at least one second radiation; and a second set of instructions which, when executed by the processing arrangement, causes the processing arrangement to generate at least one image corresponding to at least one portion of the sample using data associated with the interference.
20. An apparatus comprising: at least one source arrangement configured to provide an electro- magnetic radiation which has a wavelength that varies over time, wherein a period of a variation of the wavelength of the at least one first electro-magnetic radiation is shorter than 1 millisecond, and the wavelength is shorter than approximately 1150 nm.
21. The apparatus according to claim 20, further comprising a control arrangement which is capable of modulating at least one of an optical gain or an optical loss in the at least one source arrangement over time.
22. The apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the optical gain is facilitated by a semiconductor material
23. The apparatus according to claim 20, further comprising an arrangement which is configured to effect at least one of a gain or a loss as a function of the wavelength.
24. The apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the wavelength varies by at least 10 nm over the period.
25. The apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the wavelength is shorter than approximately 950 nm.
26. A process comprising: providing an electro-magnetic radiation; and providing an ability to vary a wavelength the electro-magnetic radiation over time, wherein a period of a variation of the wavelength of the at least one first electro-magnetic radiation is shorter than 1 millisecond, and the wavelength is shorter than approximately 1150 nm.
27. A software arrangement comprising: a set of instructions which, when executed by a processing arrangement, causes an electro-magnetic radiation which has a wavelength that varies over time to be provided, wherein a period of a variation of the wavelength of the at least one first electro-magnetic radiation is shorter than 1 millisecond, and the wavelength is shorter than approximately 1150 nm.
28. An apparatus comprising: at least one arrangement configured to receive first data for a three- dimensional image of at least one portion of a sample, wherein the first data is associated with an optical interferometric signal generated from signals obtained from the sample and a reference, wherein the at least one arrangement is further configured to convert a region that is less than an entire portion of the first data to second data to generate a two- dimensional image which is associated with the at least one portion of the sample, wherein the at least one arrangement is still further configured to automatically select the region based on at least one characteristic of the sample, and wherein the entire portion is associated with an internal structure within the sample.
29. The apparatus according to claim 28, wherein the sample is an anatomical structure.
30. The apparatus according to claim 28, wherein the region is at least one portion of at least one of a retina or a choroid.
31. The apparatus according to claim 28, wherein the two-dimensional image is associated with an integrated reflectivity profile of the region.
32. The apparatus according to claim 31, wherein the two-dimensional image is associated with at least one of a blood or a lymphatic vessel network.
33. The apparatus according to claim 28, wherein the at least one arrangement automatically selects the region by determining at least one location of at least one section of the region based a reflectivity in the region.
34. A process comprising: receiving first data for a three-dimensional image of at least one portion of a sample, wherein the first data is associated with an optical interferometric signal generated from signals obtained from the sample and a reference; converting a region that is less than an entire portion of the first data to second data to generate a two-dimensional image which is associated with the at least one portion of the sample; and automatically select the region based on at least one characteristic of the sample, wherein the entire portion is associated with an internal structure within the sample.
35. A software arrangement comprising: a first set of instructions which, when executed by a processing arrangement, receives first data for a three-dimensional image of at least one portion of a sample, wherein the first data is associated with an optical interferometric signal generated from signals obtained from the sample and a reference; a second set of instructions which, when executed by the processing arrangement, converts a region that is less than an entire portion of the first data to second data to generate a two-dimensional image which is associated with the at least one portion of the sample; and a third set of instructions which, when executed by the processing arrangement, automatically selects the region based on at least one characteristic of the sample, wherein the entire portion is associated with an internal structure within the sample.
36. An apparatus comprising: at least one first arrangement providing a radiation which includes at least one first electro-magnetic radiation directed to a sample and at least one second electro-magnetic radiation directed to a reference, wherein a wavelength of the radiation provided by the at least one first arrangement varies over time; and at least one second arrangement capable of detecting an interference signal between at least one third radiation associated with the at least one first radiation and at least one fourth radiation associated with the at least one second radiation, wherein the at least one second arrangement is capable of obtaining at least one signal associated with at least one phase of at least one frequency component of the interference signal over less than an entire sweep of the wavelength, and comparing the at least one phase to at least one particular information.
37. The apparatus according to claim 36, further comprising at least one third arrangement which is capable of scanning the at least one first electro-magnetic radiation laterally across the sample.
38. The apparatus according to claim 36, wherein the sample includes at least one section of a posterior segment of an eye.
39. The apparatus according to claim 36, wherein the at least one section includes at least one of a retina, a choroid, an optic nerve, or a fovea.
40. The apparatus according to claim 36, wherein the interference signal is associated with an integral fraction of the entire sweep of the wavelength.
41. The apparatus according to claim 36, wherein the fraction of the sweep is a half or a quarter of the sweep.
42. The apparatus according to claim 36, wherein the at least one signal is associated with at least one of a flow velocity or an anatomical structure in the sample.
43. The apparatus according to claim 36, wherein the at least one particular information is associated with a further signal obtained from a sweep of the wavelength that is different from the sweep of the wavelength of the at least one signal.
44. The apparatus according to claim 36, wherein the at least one particular information is a constant.
45. The apparatus according to claim 36, wherein the at least one particular information is associated with at least one phase of at least one further frequency component of the interference signal over less than an entire sweep of the wavelength, and wherein the frequency components are different from one another.
46. The apparatus according to claim 36, further comprising at least on third arrangement capable of receiving the at least one of the first or second electro-magnetic radiations, and providing at least one fifth electromagnetic radiation associated with the at least one of the first electro-magnetic radiation or the second electro-magnetic radiation, wherein the at least one second arrangement is further capable of detecting a further interference signal between the at least one fifth radiation and the at least one fourth radiation, wherein the at least one second arrangement is further capable of obtaining at least one reference signal associated with a further phase of at least one first frequency component of the further interference signal over less than an entire sweep of the wavelength.
47. The apparatus according to claim 46, wherein the at least one particular signal is the further phase.
48. A process comprising: causing a radiation to be provided which includes at least one first electro-magnetic radiation directed to a sample and at least one second electromagnetic radiation directed to a reference, wherein a wavelength of the radiation provided by the at least one first arrangement varies over time; detecting an interference signal between at least one third radiation associated with the at least one first radiation and at least one fourth radiation associated with the at least one second radiation; and obtaining at least one signal associated with at least one phase of at least one frequency component of the interference signal over less than an entire sweep of the wavelength, and comparing the at least one phase to at least one particular information.
49. A software arrangement comprising: a first set of instructions which, when executed by a processing arrangement, causes a radiation to be provided which includes at least one first electro-magnetic radiation directed to a sample and at least one second electromagnetic radiation directed to a reference, wherein a wavelength of the radiation provided by the at least one first arrangement varies over time; a second set of instructions which, when executed by the processing arrangement, causes a detection of an interference signal between at least one third radiation associated with the at least one first radiation and at least one fourth radiation associated with the at least one second radiation; and a third set of instructions which, when executed by the processing arrangement, obtains at least one signal associated with at least one phase of at least one frequency component of the interference signal over less than an entire sweep of the wavelength, and comparing the at least one phase to at least one particular information.
PCT/US2007/068214 2006-05-10 2007-05-04 Processes, arrangements and systems for providing frequency domain imaging of a sample WO2007133961A2 (en)

Priority Applications (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP2009510092A JP2009536740A (en) 2006-05-10 2007-05-04 Process, configuration and system for providing frequency domain imaging of samples
EP16190822.3A EP3150110B1 (en) 2006-05-10 2007-05-04 Processes, arrangements and systems for providing frequency domain imaging of a sample
EP07761877A EP2015669A2 (en) 2006-05-10 2007-05-04 Processes, arrangements and systems for providing frequency domain imaging of a sample

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US79951106P 2006-05-10 2006-05-10
US60/799,511 2006-05-10

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2007133961A2 true WO2007133961A2 (en) 2007-11-22
WO2007133961A3 WO2007133961A3 (en) 2008-01-31

Family

ID=38653576

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/US2007/068214 WO2007133961A2 (en) 2006-05-10 2007-05-04 Processes, arrangements and systems for providing frequency domain imaging of a sample

Country Status (4)

Country Link
US (3) US8175685B2 (en)
EP (3) EP2517616A3 (en)
JP (3) JP2009536740A (en)
WO (1) WO2007133961A2 (en)

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2010072394A1 (en) * 2008-12-23 2010-07-01 Carl Zeiss Meditec Ag Device for swept-source optical coherence domain reflectometry
WO2010150483A3 (en) * 2009-06-25 2011-08-18 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Image pickup apparatus and image pickup method using optical coherence tomography
JP2012515350A (en) * 2009-01-17 2012-07-05 ルナ イノベーションズ インコーポレイテッド Optical imaging for optical device inspection
WO2014004835A1 (en) * 2012-06-29 2014-01-03 The General Hospital Corporation System, method and computer-accessible medium for providing and/or utilizing optical coherence tomographic vibrography

Families Citing this family (62)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP2007101249A (en) * 2005-09-30 2007-04-19 Fujifilm Corp Optical tomographic imaging method and apparatus
EP2649971B1 (en) 2007-03-13 2016-08-31 Optimedica Corporation Apparatus for creating ocular surgical and relaxing incisions
DE102008045634A1 (en) * 2008-09-03 2010-03-04 Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München Wavelength tunable light source
US8500279B2 (en) 2008-11-06 2013-08-06 Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc. Variable resolution optical coherence tomography scanner and method for using same
WO2010111795A1 (en) 2009-04-03 2010-10-07 Exalos Ag Light source, and optical coherence tomography module
DE102009017940A1 (en) * 2009-04-17 2010-10-21 Storz Endoskop Produktions Gmbh Endoscopic system
JP2011212432A (en) * 2010-03-15 2011-10-27 Nidek Co Ltd Ophthalmologic photographing apparatus
WO2011116196A1 (en) * 2010-03-17 2011-09-22 Lightlab Imaging, Inc. Intensity noise reduction methods and apparatus for interferometric sensing and imaging systems
JP5398009B2 (en) * 2010-03-17 2014-01-29 学校法人北里研究所 Optical coherence tomography apparatus and tomographic imaging method
KR101661934B1 (en) * 2010-07-29 2016-10-04 삼성전자주식회사 Image processing apparatus and method
US9155464B2 (en) * 2010-08-24 2015-10-13 Kowa Company Ltd. Visual field examination system
JP6180073B2 (en) * 2010-08-31 2017-08-16 キヤノン株式会社 Image processing apparatus, control method therefor, and program
JP2012183152A (en) * 2011-03-04 2012-09-27 Tomey Corporation Method and device for measuring light interference
US8838212B2 (en) * 2011-05-16 2014-09-16 Bausch & Lomb Incorporated Apparatus and methods for illuminating substances using color to achieve visual contrast
WO2012174413A1 (en) 2011-06-15 2012-12-20 University Of Southern California Optical coherence photoacoustic microscopy
US20130107274A1 (en) * 2011-10-28 2013-05-02 Tomophase Corporation Optical imaging and mapping using propagation modes of light
CN102519375B (en) * 2011-11-14 2013-11-20 浙江大学 Ultra-large range space measuring system and method based on light cycle and spectral domain carrier frequency
US8870783B2 (en) * 2011-11-30 2014-10-28 Covidien Lp Pulse rate determination using Gaussian kernel smoothing of multiple inter-fiducial pulse periods
CN104011497B (en) * 2011-12-27 2017-10-03 佳能株式会社 Method for producing information signal
JP6061554B2 (en) 2012-01-20 2017-01-18 キヤノン株式会社 Image processing apparatus and image processing method
JP6146951B2 (en) 2012-01-20 2017-06-14 キヤノン株式会社 Image processing apparatus, image processing method, photographing apparatus, and photographing method
US9192294B2 (en) 2012-05-10 2015-11-24 Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc. Systems and methods for faster optical coherence tomography acquisition and processing
FR2994599B1 (en) * 2012-08-14 2014-09-12 Inst Telecom Telecom Sudparis DEVICE FOR ANALYZING REFLECTIVITY
US9324141B2 (en) * 2012-10-05 2016-04-26 Volcano Corporation Removal of A-scan streaking artifact
US9261349B2 (en) * 2012-11-08 2016-02-16 Kabushiki Kaisha Topcon Optical imaging apparatus, optical imaging method, apparatus for setting characteristics of a light source, and method for setting characteristics of a light source
WO2014085911A1 (en) 2012-12-05 2014-06-12 Tornado Medical Systems, Inc. System and method for wide field oct imaging
US9400169B2 (en) 2012-12-06 2016-07-26 Lehigh University Apparatus and method for space-division multiplexing optical coherence tomography
JP2014113207A (en) * 2012-12-06 2014-06-26 Tomey Corporation Tomographic apparatus and tomographic image processing method
US8964170B2 (en) * 2012-12-10 2015-02-24 The Johns Hopkins University System and method for assessing the flow of a fluid
US20140316281A1 (en) * 2012-12-14 2014-10-23 Vascular Imaging Corporation Noise subtraction for intra-body fiber optic sensor
WO2014100702A2 (en) * 2012-12-19 2014-06-26 Georgia Tech Research Corporation Devices, systems and methods for ultrafast optical applications
US9404729B1 (en) * 2013-02-27 2016-08-02 Insight Photonic Solutions, Inc. System and method for characterizing and correcting the optical response of an optical coherence tomography system
CN107456313B (en) * 2013-03-13 2020-11-17 光学医疗公司 Free floating patient interface for laser surgery system
JP6338256B2 (en) 2013-03-13 2018-06-06 オプティメディカ・コーポレイションOptimedica Corporation Laser surgery system
US20160270647A1 (en) * 2013-10-25 2016-09-22 The General Hospital Corporation System, method and computer-accessible medium for determining inflammation associated with a central nervous system
JP6507615B2 (en) * 2013-12-13 2019-05-08 株式会社ニデック Optical coherence tomography apparatus and program
JP6261450B2 (en) * 2014-05-30 2018-01-17 株式会社トーメーコーポレーション Ophthalmic equipment
EP3201310B1 (en) * 2014-10-01 2021-02-17 Purdue Research Foundation Microorganism identification
JP2016075585A (en) * 2014-10-07 2016-05-12 キヤノン株式会社 Imaging device, noise reduction method of tomographic image, and program
US10547280B2 (en) * 2015-03-12 2020-01-28 University Of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc. Photonics based tunable multiband microwave filter
US9984459B2 (en) * 2015-04-15 2018-05-29 Kabushiki Kaisha Topcon OCT angiography calculation with optimized signal processing
JP2017104309A (en) 2015-12-10 2017-06-15 株式会社トプコン Ophthalmologic image displaying device and ophthalmologic imaging device
JPWO2017119389A1 (en) * 2016-01-08 2018-10-25 国立大学法人 東京大学 Fourier transform spectrometer
US10739245B2 (en) * 2016-04-26 2020-08-11 Cytek Biosciences, Inc. Compact multi-color flow cytometer
JP6736397B2 (en) * 2016-07-15 2020-08-05 キヤノン株式会社 Optical tomographic imaging apparatus, method of operating optical tomographic imaging apparatus, and program
US10541661B2 (en) * 2016-08-18 2020-01-21 University Of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc. Continuously tunable and highly reconfigurable multiband RF filter
CN110461213A (en) 2016-12-21 2019-11-15 奥克塞拉有限公司 Small-sized movable low-cost optical coherence tomography system based on family's ophthalmic applications
US11373749B2 (en) 2017-05-12 2022-06-28 Eyekor, Llc Automated analysis of OCT retinal scans
JP6826496B2 (en) 2017-06-07 2021-02-03 タツタ電線株式会社 Optical interference unit and optical interference measuring device
EP3655748B1 (en) 2017-07-18 2023-08-09 Perimeter Medical Imaging, Inc. Sample container for stabilizing and aligning excised biological tissue samples for ex vivo analysis
US11771321B2 (en) 2017-10-13 2023-10-03 The Research Foundation For Suny System, method, and computer-accessible medium for subsurface capillary flow imaging by wavelength-division-multiplexing swept-source optical doppler tomography
JP2018023815A (en) * 2017-10-13 2018-02-15 株式会社トプコン Ophthalmological observation device
CN112638233A (en) 2018-06-20 2021-04-09 奥克塞拉有限公司 Miniature mobile low-cost optical coherence tomography system based on home ophthalmic applications
WO2020009150A1 (en) * 2018-07-06 2020-01-09 国立大学法人東京大学 High-speed scan fourier transform spectroscopy apparatus and spectroscopy method
JP7265258B2 (en) * 2019-07-30 2023-04-26 国立大学法人 和歌山大学 Wavelength sweeping optical coherence tomography system
CN110367941B (en) * 2019-08-20 2022-01-28 东北大学秦皇岛分校 Detection light fusion non-contact photoacoustic-optical coherence tomography dual-mode imaging system
CN110530609A (en) * 2019-08-28 2019-12-03 中国科学院合肥物质科学研究院 The device and method for surveying FP transmittance curve using Whispering-gallery-mode laser light source
JP2023508946A (en) 2019-12-26 2023-03-06 アキュセラ インコーポレイテッド Optical Coherence Tomography Patient Alignment System for Home-Based Ophthalmic Applications
US10959613B1 (en) 2020-08-04 2021-03-30 Acucela Inc. Scan pattern and signal processing for optical coherence tomography
US11393094B2 (en) 2020-09-11 2022-07-19 Acucela Inc. Artificial intelligence for evaluation of optical coherence tomography images
AU2021352417A1 (en) 2020-09-30 2023-04-06 Acucela Inc. Myopia prediction, diagnosis, planning, and monitoring device
WO2022204622A1 (en) 2021-03-24 2022-09-29 Acucela Inc. Axial length measurement monitor

Citations (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5491524A (en) * 1994-10-05 1996-02-13 Carl Zeiss, Inc. Optical coherence tomography corneal mapping apparatus
US5975697A (en) * 1998-11-25 1999-11-02 Oti Ophthalmic Technologies, Inc. Optical mapping apparatus with adjustable depth resolution
US6160826A (en) * 1991-04-29 2000-12-12 Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Method and apparatus for performing optical frequency domain reflectometry
WO2001082786A2 (en) * 2000-05-03 2001-11-08 Flock Stephen T Optical imaging of subsurface anatomical structures and biomolecules
WO2002037075A2 (en) * 2000-10-31 2002-05-10 Forskningscenter Risø Optical amplification in coherent optical frequency modulated continuous wave reflectometry
US20030227631A1 (en) * 2002-04-05 2003-12-11 Rollins Andrew M. Phase-referenced doppler optical coherence tomography
WO2006038876A1 (en) * 2004-10-08 2006-04-13 Trajan Badju A method and a system for generating three- or two-dimensional images
US20060093276A1 (en) * 2004-11-02 2006-05-04 The General Hospital Corporation Fiber-optic rotational device, optical system and method for imaging a sample
EP1677095A1 (en) * 2003-09-26 2006-07-05 The Kitasato Gakuen Foundation Variable-wavelength light generator and light interference tomograph
WO2006078802A1 (en) * 2005-01-21 2006-07-27 Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Methods and apparatus for optical coherence tomography scanning

Family Cites Families (629)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2339754A (en) * 1941-03-04 1944-01-25 Westinghouse Electric & Mfg Co Supervisory apparatus
US3090753A (en) 1960-08-02 1963-05-21 Exxon Research Engineering Co Ester oil compositions containing acid anhydride
GB1257778A (en) 1967-12-07 1971-12-22
US3601480A (en) 1968-07-10 1971-08-24 Physics Int Co Optical tunnel high-speed camera system
JPS4932484U (en) 1972-06-19 1974-03-20
US3872407A (en) * 1972-09-01 1975-03-18 Us Navy Rapidly tunable laser
JPS584481Y2 (en) * 1973-06-23 1983-01-26 オリンパス光学工業株式会社 Naishikiyoushiyahenkankogakkei
FR2253410A5 (en) 1973-12-03 1975-06-27 Inst Nat Sante Rech Med
US3941121A (en) * 1974-12-20 1976-03-02 The University Of Cincinnati Focusing fiber-optic needle endoscope
US3983507A (en) 1975-01-06 1976-09-28 Research Corporation Tunable laser systems and method
US3973219A (en) 1975-04-24 1976-08-03 Cornell Research Foundation, Inc. Very rapidly tuned cw dye laser
US4030831A (en) 1976-03-22 1977-06-21 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Navy Phase detector for optical figure sensing
US4141362A (en) * 1977-05-23 1979-02-27 Richard Wolf Gmbh Laser endoscope
US4224929A (en) 1977-11-08 1980-09-30 Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. Endoscope with expansible cuff member and operation section
DE2964775D1 (en) 1978-03-09 1983-03-24 Nat Res Dev Measurement of small movements
GB2030313A (en) 1978-06-29 1980-04-02 Wolf Gmbh Richard Endoscopes
JPS559417A (en) 1978-07-05 1980-01-23 Seiko Epson Corp Semiconductor integrated circuit
FR2448728A1 (en) 1979-02-07 1980-09-05 Thomson Csf ROTATING JOINT DEVICE FOR OPTICAL CONDUCTOR CONNECTION AND SYSTEM COMPRISING SUCH A DEVICE
US4300816A (en) 1979-08-30 1981-11-17 United Technologies Corporation Wide band multicore optical fiber
US4295738A (en) 1979-08-30 1981-10-20 United Technologies Corporation Fiber optic strain sensor
US4428643A (en) * 1981-04-08 1984-01-31 Xerox Corporation Optical scanning system with wavelength shift correction
US5065331A (en) 1981-05-18 1991-11-12 Vachon Reginald I Apparatus and method for determining the stress and strain in pipes, pressure vessels, structural members and other deformable bodies
GB2106736B (en) 1981-09-03 1985-06-12 Standard Telephones Cables Ltd Optical transmission system
US4479499A (en) 1982-01-29 1984-10-30 Alfano Robert R Method and apparatus for detecting the presence of caries in teeth using visible light
US5302025A (en) 1982-08-06 1994-04-12 Kleinerman Marcos Y Optical systems for sensing temperature and other physical parameters
US4601036A (en) 1982-09-30 1986-07-15 Honeywell Inc. Rapidly tunable laser
HU187188B (en) 1982-11-25 1985-11-28 Koezponti Elelmiszeripari Device for generating radiation of controllable spectral structure
US4891406A (en) * 1983-08-08 1990-01-02 Huels Aktiengesellschaft High impact strength molding compositions based on polyalkylene terephthalates
CH663466A5 (en) 1983-09-12 1987-12-15 Battelle Memorial Institute METHOD AND DEVICE FOR DETERMINING THE POSITION OF AN OBJECT IN RELATION TO A REFERENCE.
US4639999A (en) * 1984-11-02 1987-02-03 Xerox Corporation High resolution, high efficiency I.R. LED printing array fabrication method
US4763977A (en) 1985-01-09 1988-08-16 Canadian Patents And Development Limited-Societe Optical fiber coupler with tunable coupling ratio and method of making
EP0590268B1 (en) 1985-03-22 1998-07-01 Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Fiber Optic Probe System for Spectrally Diagnosing Tissue
US5318024A (en) 1985-03-22 1994-06-07 Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Laser endoscope for spectroscopic imaging
US4734578A (en) * 1985-03-27 1988-03-29 Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. Two-dimensional scanning photo-electric microscope
US4607622A (en) 1985-04-11 1986-08-26 Charles D. Fritch Fiber optic ocular endoscope
US4631498A (en) 1985-04-26 1986-12-23 Hewlett-Packard Company CW Laser wavemeter/frequency locking technique
US4650327A (en) * 1985-10-28 1987-03-17 Oximetrix, Inc. Optical catheter calibrating assembly
JPH0664683B2 (en) 1986-02-13 1994-08-22 松下電器産業株式会社 Rotating magnetic head recorder
JPS62188001U (en) 1986-05-20 1987-11-30
US5040889A (en) 1986-05-30 1991-08-20 Pacific Scientific Company Spectrometer with combined visible and ultraviolet sample illumination
CA1290019C (en) 1986-06-20 1991-10-01 Hideo Kuwahara Dual balanced optical signal receiver
US4770492A (en) 1986-10-28 1988-09-13 Spectran Corporation Pressure or strain sensitive optical fiber
JPH0824665B2 (en) 1986-11-28 1996-03-13 オリンパス光学工業株式会社 Endoscope device
US4744656A (en) 1986-12-08 1988-05-17 Spectramed, Inc. Disposable calibration boot for optical-type cardiovascular catheter
JPS63158363A (en) 1986-12-22 1988-07-01 Daikin Mfg Co Ltd Seal device for air rotary joint
US4751706A (en) 1986-12-31 1988-06-14 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army Laser for providing rapid sequence of different wavelengths
US4834111A (en) 1987-01-12 1989-05-30 The Trustees Of Columbia University In The City Of New York Heterodyne interferometer
CA1339426C (en) 1987-09-01 1997-09-02 Michael R. Layton Hydrophone demodulator circuit and method
US5202931A (en) 1987-10-06 1993-04-13 Cell Analysis Systems, Inc. Methods and apparatus for the quantitation of nuclear protein
US4909631A (en) * 1987-12-18 1990-03-20 Tan Raul Y Method for film thickness and refractive index determination
US4890901A (en) * 1987-12-22 1990-01-02 Hughes Aircraft Company Color corrector for embedded prisms
US4892406A (en) 1988-01-11 1990-01-09 United Technologies Corporation Method of and arrangement for measuring vibrations
FR2626367B1 (en) 1988-01-25 1990-05-11 Thomson Csf MULTI-POINT FIBER OPTIC TEMPERATURE SENSOR
FR2626383B1 (en) 1988-01-27 1991-10-25 Commissariat Energie Atomique EXTENDED FIELD SCAN AND DEPTH CONFOCAL OPTICAL MICROSCOPY AND DEVICES FOR CARRYING OUT THE METHOD
US4925302A (en) 1988-04-13 1990-05-15 Hewlett-Packard Company Frequency locking device
US4998972A (en) * 1988-04-28 1991-03-12 Thomas J. Fogarty Real time angioscopy imaging system
US5730731A (en) * 1988-04-28 1998-03-24 Thomas J. Fogarty Pressure-based irrigation accumulator
US4905169A (en) * 1988-06-02 1990-02-27 The United States Of America As Represented By The United States Department Of Energy Method and apparatus for simultaneously measuring a plurality of spectral wavelengths present in electromagnetic radiation
US5242437A (en) 1988-06-10 1993-09-07 Trimedyne Laser Systems, Inc. Medical device applying localized high intensity light and heat, particularly for destruction of the endometrium
EP0393165B2 (en) 1988-07-13 2007-07-25 Optiscan Pty Ltd Scanning confocal endoscope
US5214538A (en) 1988-07-25 1993-05-25 Keymed (Medical And Industrial Equipment) Limited Optical apparatus
GB8817672D0 (en) 1988-07-25 1988-09-01 Sira Ltd Optical apparatus
US4868834A (en) 1988-09-14 1989-09-19 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army System for rapidly tuning a low pressure pulsed laser
DE3833602A1 (en) * 1988-10-03 1990-02-15 Krupp Gmbh SPECTROMETER FOR SIMULTANEOUS INTENSITY MEASUREMENT IN DIFFERENT SPECTRAL AREAS
US4940328A (en) 1988-11-04 1990-07-10 Georgia Tech Research Corporation Optical sensing apparatus and method
US4966589A (en) 1988-11-14 1990-10-30 Hemedix International, Inc. Intravenous catheter placement device
US5419323A (en) 1988-12-21 1995-05-30 Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Method for laser induced fluorescence of tissue
US5046501A (en) 1989-01-18 1991-09-10 Wayne State University Atherosclerotic identification
JPH02259617A (en) 1989-03-30 1990-10-22 Sony Corp Laser beam deflector
US5085496A (en) * 1989-03-31 1992-02-04 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Optical element and optical pickup device comprising it
US5317389A (en) 1989-06-12 1994-05-31 California Institute Of Technology Method and apparatus for white-light dispersed-fringe interferometric measurement of corneal topography
US4965599A (en) 1989-11-13 1990-10-23 Eastman Kodak Company Scanning apparatus for halftone image screen writing
US5133035A (en) 1989-11-14 1992-07-21 Hicks John W Multifiber endoscope with multiple scanning modes to produce an image free of fixed pattern noise
US4984888A (en) 1989-12-13 1991-01-15 Imo Industries, Inc. Two-dimensional spectrometer
KR930003307B1 (en) 1989-12-14 1993-04-24 주식회사 금성사 Three dimensional projector
US5251009A (en) 1990-01-22 1993-10-05 Ciba-Geigy Corporation Interferometric measuring arrangement for refractive index measurements in capillary tubes
DD293205B5 (en) 1990-03-05 1995-06-29 Zeiss Carl Jena Gmbh Optical fiber guide for a medical observation device
US5039193A (en) 1990-04-03 1991-08-13 Focal Technologies Incorporated Fibre optic single mode rotary joint
JPH0456907A (en) 1990-06-26 1992-02-24 Fujikura Ltd Optical fiber coupler
US5262644A (en) 1990-06-29 1993-11-16 Southwest Research Institute Remote spectroscopy for raman and brillouin scattering
US5197470A (en) * 1990-07-16 1993-03-30 Eastman Kodak Company Near infrared diagnostic method and instrument
GB9015793D0 (en) 1990-07-18 1990-09-05 Medical Res Council Confocal scanning optical microscope
US5127730A (en) 1990-08-10 1992-07-07 Regents Of The University Of Minnesota Multi-color laser scanning confocal imaging system
US5845639A (en) 1990-08-10 1998-12-08 Board Of Regents Of The University Of Washington Optical imaging methods
US5305759A (en) 1990-09-26 1994-04-26 Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. Examined body interior information observing apparatus by using photo-pulses controlling gains for depths
US5241364A (en) 1990-10-19 1993-08-31 Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. Confocal scanning type of phase contrast microscope and scanning microscope
US5250186A (en) 1990-10-23 1993-10-05 Cetus Corporation HPLC light scattering detector for biopolymers
US5202745A (en) 1990-11-07 1993-04-13 Hewlett-Packard Company Polarization independent optical coherence-domain reflectometry
US5275594A (en) * 1990-11-09 1994-01-04 C. R. Bard, Inc. Angioplasty system having means for identification of atherosclerotic plaque
JP3035336B2 (en) * 1990-11-27 2000-04-24 興和株式会社 Blood flow measurement device
US5228001A (en) 1991-01-23 1993-07-13 Syracuse University Optical random access memory
US5784162A (en) 1993-08-18 1998-07-21 Applied Spectral Imaging Ltd. Spectral bio-imaging methods for biological research, medical diagnostics and therapy
US6198532B1 (en) 1991-02-22 2001-03-06 Applied Spectral Imaging Ltd. Spectral bio-imaging of the eye
US5293872A (en) * 1991-04-03 1994-03-15 Alfano Robert R Method for distinguishing between calcified atherosclerotic tissue and fibrous atherosclerotic tissue or normal cardiovascular tissue using Raman spectroscopy
US6485413B1 (en) 1991-04-29 2002-11-26 The General Hospital Corporation Methods and apparatus for forward-directed optical scanning instruments
US5465147A (en) 1991-04-29 1995-11-07 Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Method and apparatus for acquiring images using a ccd detector array and no transverse scanner
US5321501A (en) 1991-04-29 1994-06-14 Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Method and apparatus for optical imaging with means for controlling the longitudinal range of the sample
US6111645A (en) 1991-04-29 2000-08-29 Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Grating based phase control optical delay line
US6134003A (en) 1991-04-29 2000-10-17 Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Method and apparatus for performing optical measurements using a fiber optic imaging guidewire, catheter or endoscope
US5748598A (en) 1995-12-22 1998-05-05 Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Apparatus and methods for reading multilayer storage media using short coherence length sources
US6564087B1 (en) 1991-04-29 2003-05-13 Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Fiber optic needle probes for optical coherence tomography imaging
US6501551B1 (en) 1991-04-29 2002-12-31 Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Fiber optic imaging endoscope interferometer with at least one faraday rotator
US5441053A (en) 1991-05-03 1995-08-15 University Of Kentucky Research Foundation Apparatus and method for multiple wavelength of tissue
US5281811A (en) * 1991-06-17 1994-01-25 Litton Systems, Inc. Digital wavelength division multiplex optical transducer having an improved decoder
US5208651A (en) 1991-07-16 1993-05-04 The Regents Of The University Of California Apparatus and method for measuring fluorescence intensities at a plurality of wavelengths and lifetimes
WO1993003672A1 (en) 1991-08-20 1993-03-04 Redd Douglas C B Optical histochemical analysis, in vivo detection and real-time guidance for ablation of abnormal tissues using a raman spectroscopic detection system
DE4128744C1 (en) * 1991-08-29 1993-04-22 Siemens Ag, 8000 Muenchen, De
US5177488A (en) 1991-10-08 1993-01-05 Hughes Aircraft Company Programmable fiber optic delay line, and radar target simulation system incorporating the same
EP0550929B1 (en) 1991-12-30 1997-03-19 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Optical device and apparatus for scanning an information plane, comprising such an optical device
US5353790A (en) 1992-01-17 1994-10-11 Board Of Regents, The University Of Texas System Method and apparatus for optical measurement of bilirubin in tissue
US5212667A (en) 1992-02-03 1993-05-18 General Electric Company Light imaging in a scattering medium, using ultrasonic probing and speckle image differencing
US5217456A (en) 1992-02-24 1993-06-08 Pdt Cardiovascular, Inc. Device and method for intra-vascular optical radial imaging
US5283795A (en) * 1992-04-21 1994-02-01 Hughes Aircraft Company Diffraction grating driven linear frequency chirped laser
US5248876A (en) 1992-04-21 1993-09-28 International Business Machines Corporation Tandem linear scanning confocal imaging system with focal volumes at different heights
US5486701A (en) * 1992-06-16 1996-01-23 Prometrix Corporation Method and apparatus for measuring reflectance in two wavelength bands to enable determination of thin film thickness
US5716324A (en) 1992-08-25 1998-02-10 Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. Endoscope with surface and deep portion imaging systems
US5348003A (en) 1992-09-03 1994-09-20 Sirraya, Inc. Method and apparatus for chemical analysis
EP0587514A1 (en) 1992-09-11 1994-03-16 Welch Allyn, Inc. Processor module for video inspection probe
US5698397A (en) 1995-06-07 1997-12-16 Sri International Up-converting reporters for biological and other assays using laser excitation techniques
US5772597A (en) 1992-09-14 1998-06-30 Sextant Medical Corporation Surgical tool end effector
AU5672194A (en) * 1992-11-18 1994-06-22 Spectrascience, Inc. Apparatus for diagnostic imaging
US5383467A (en) * 1992-11-18 1995-01-24 Spectrascience, Inc. Guidewire catheter and apparatus for diagnostic imaging
US5785663A (en) 1992-12-21 1998-07-28 Artann Corporation Method and device for mechanical imaging of prostate
US5400771A (en) 1993-01-21 1995-03-28 Pirak; Leon Endotracheal intubation assembly and related method
JPH06222242A (en) 1993-01-27 1994-08-12 Shin Etsu Chem Co Ltd Optical fiber coupler and its manufacture
US5987346A (en) 1993-02-26 1999-11-16 Benaron; David A. Device and method for classification of tissue
US5414509A (en) 1993-03-08 1995-05-09 Associated Universities, Inc. Optical pressure/density measuring means
JP3112595B2 (en) * 1993-03-17 2000-11-27 安藤電気株式会社 Optical fiber strain position measuring device using optical frequency shifter
FI93781C (en) 1993-03-18 1995-05-26 Wallac Oy Biospecific multiparametric assay method
DE4309056B4 (en) 1993-03-20 2006-05-24 Häusler, Gerd, Prof. Dr. Method and device for determining the distance and scattering intensity of scattering points
DE4310209C2 (en) * 1993-03-29 1996-05-30 Bruker Medizintech Optical stationary imaging in strongly scattering media
US5485079A (en) 1993-03-29 1996-01-16 Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. Magneto-optical element and optical magnetic field sensor
DE4314189C1 (en) 1993-04-30 1994-11-03 Bodenseewerk Geraetetech Device for the examination of optical fibres made of glass by means of heterodyne Brillouin spectroscopy
SE501932C2 (en) 1993-04-30 1995-06-26 Ericsson Telefon Ab L M Apparatus and method for dispersion compensation in a fiber optic transmission system
US5424827A (en) 1993-04-30 1995-06-13 Litton Systems, Inc. Optical system and method for eliminating overlap of diffraction spectra
US5454807A (en) 1993-05-14 1995-10-03 Boston Scientific Corporation Medical treatment of deeply seated tissue using optical radiation
DE69418248T2 (en) 1993-06-03 1999-10-14 Hamamatsu Photonics Kk Optical laser scanning system with Axikon
JP3234353B2 (en) 1993-06-15 2001-12-04 富士写真フイルム株式会社 Tomographic information reader
US5840031A (en) 1993-07-01 1998-11-24 Boston Scientific Corporation Catheters for imaging, sensing electrical potentials and ablating tissue
US5995645A (en) 1993-08-18 1999-11-30 Applied Spectral Imaging Ltd. Method of cancer cell detection
US5803082A (en) 1993-11-09 1998-09-08 Staplevision Inc. Omnispectramammography
US5983125A (en) 1993-12-13 1999-11-09 The Research Foundation Of City College Of New York Method and apparatus for in vivo examination of subcutaneous tissues inside an organ of a body using optical spectroscopy
US5450203A (en) 1993-12-22 1995-09-12 Electroglas, Inc. Method and apparatus for determining an objects position, topography and for imaging
US5411016A (en) 1994-02-22 1995-05-02 Scimed Life Systems, Inc. Intravascular balloon catheter for use in combination with an angioscope
US5590660A (en) * 1994-03-28 1997-01-07 Xillix Technologies Corp. Apparatus and method for imaging diseased tissue using integrated autofluorescence
DE4411017C2 (en) 1994-03-30 1995-06-08 Alexander Dr Knuettel Optical stationary spectroscopic imaging in strongly scattering objects through special light focusing and signal detection of light of different wavelengths
TW275570B (en) * 1994-05-05 1996-05-11 Boehringer Mannheim Gmbh
ATE242999T1 (en) 1994-07-14 2003-07-15 Washington Res Found DEVICE FOR DETECTING BARRETT METAPLASIA IN THE ESOPHAUS
US5459325A (en) 1994-07-19 1995-10-17 Molecular Dynamics, Inc. High-speed fluorescence scanner
US6159445A (en) 1994-07-20 2000-12-12 Nycomed Imaging As Light imaging contrast agents
CA2172284C (en) * 1994-08-08 1999-09-28 Richard J. Mammone Processing of keratoscopic images using local spatial phase
DE69533903T2 (en) 1994-08-18 2005-12-08 Carl Zeiss Meditec Ag Surgical apparatus controlled by optical coherence tomography
US5740808A (en) 1996-10-28 1998-04-21 Ep Technologies, Inc Systems and methods for guilding diagnostic or therapeutic devices in interior tissue regions
US5501226A (en) * 1994-10-19 1996-03-26 Carl Zeiss, Inc. Short coherence length, doppler velocimetry system
US5817144A (en) 1994-10-25 1998-10-06 Latis, Inc. Method for contemporaneous application OF laser energy and localized pharmacologic therapy
US6033721A (en) * 1994-10-26 2000-03-07 Revise, Inc. Image-based three-axis positioner for laser direct write microchemical reaction
JPH08136345A (en) 1994-11-10 1996-05-31 Anritsu Corp Double monochromator
JPH08160129A (en) 1994-12-05 1996-06-21 Uniden Corp Speed detector
US5566267A (en) 1994-12-15 1996-10-15 Ceram Optec Industries Inc. Flat surfaced optical fibers and diode laser medical delivery devices
US5600486A (en) * 1995-01-30 1997-02-04 Lockheed Missiles And Space Company, Inc. Color separation microlens
US5648848A (en) 1995-02-01 1997-07-15 Nikon Precision, Inc. Beam delivery apparatus and method for interferometry using rotatable polarization chucks
DE19506484C2 (en) 1995-02-24 1999-09-16 Stiftung Fuer Lasertechnologie Method and device for selective non-invasive laser myography (LMG)
RU2100787C1 (en) * 1995-03-01 1997-12-27 Геликонов Валентин Михайлович Fibre-optical interferometer and fiber-optical piezoelectric transducer
US5868731A (en) 1996-03-04 1999-02-09 Innotech Usa, Inc. Laser surgical device and method of its use
WO1996028212A1 (en) 1995-03-09 1996-09-19 Innotech Usa, Inc. Laser surgical device and method of its use
US5526338A (en) 1995-03-10 1996-06-11 Yeda Research & Development Co. Ltd. Method and apparatus for storage and retrieval with multilayer optical disks
US5697373A (en) 1995-03-14 1997-12-16 Board Of Regents, The University Of Texas System Optical method and apparatus for the diagnosis of cervical precancers using raman and fluorescence spectroscopies
US5735276A (en) 1995-03-21 1998-04-07 Lemelson; Jerome Method and apparatus for scanning and evaluating matter
JP3945820B2 (en) 1995-03-24 2007-07-18 オプティスキャン ピーティーワイ リミテッド Optical fiber confocal image forming apparatus with variable near-confocal control means
US5565983A (en) 1995-05-26 1996-10-15 The Perkin-Elmer Corporation Optical spectrometer for detecting spectra in separate ranges
US5621830A (en) 1995-06-07 1997-04-15 Smith & Nephew Dyonics Inc. Rotatable fiber optic joint
US5785651A (en) 1995-06-07 1998-07-28 Keravision, Inc. Distance measuring confocal microscope
WO1997001167A1 (en) 1995-06-21 1997-01-09 Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Apparatus and method for accessing data on multilayered optical media
ATA107495A (en) 1995-06-23 1996-06-15 Fercher Adolf Friedrich Dr COHERENCE BIOMETRY AND TOMOGRAPHY WITH DYNAMIC COHERENT FOCUS
US6104945A (en) 1995-08-01 2000-08-15 Medispectra, Inc. Spectral volume microprobe arrays
JP3819032B2 (en) * 1995-08-24 2006-09-06 ザ・テキサス・エイ・アンド・エム・ユニバーシティ・システム Imaging and spectroscopic analysis based on fluorescence lifetime in tissues and other random media
US6016197A (en) * 1995-08-25 2000-01-18 Ceramoptec Industries Inc. Compact, all-optical spectrum analyzer for chemical and biological fiber optic sensors
FR2738343B1 (en) 1995-08-30 1997-10-24 Cohen Sabban Joseph OPTICAL MICROSTRATIGRAPHY DEVICE
EP0955883B1 (en) 1995-09-20 2002-07-31 Texas Heart Institute Detecting thermal discrepancies in vessel walls
US6615071B1 (en) 1995-09-20 2003-09-02 Board Of Regents, The University Of Texas System Method and apparatus for detecting vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque
US6763261B2 (en) * 1995-09-20 2004-07-13 Board Of Regents, The University Of Texas System Method and apparatus for detecting vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque
US5742419A (en) 1995-11-07 1998-04-21 The Board Of Trustees Of The Leland Stanford Junior Universtiy Miniature scanning confocal microscope
DE19542955C2 (en) 1995-11-17 1999-02-18 Schwind Gmbh & Co Kg Herbert endoscope
US5719399A (en) * 1995-12-18 1998-02-17 The Research Foundation Of City College Of New York Imaging and characterization of tissue based upon the preservation of polarized light transmitted therethrough
JP3699761B2 (en) * 1995-12-26 2005-09-28 オリンパス株式会社 Epifluorescence microscope
US5748318A (en) 1996-01-23 1998-05-05 Brown University Research Foundation Optical stress generator and detector
US5840023A (en) 1996-01-31 1998-11-24 Oraevsky; Alexander A. Optoacoustic imaging for medical diagnosis
US5642194A (en) 1996-02-05 1997-06-24 The Regents Of The University Of California White light velocity interferometer
US5862273A (en) * 1996-02-23 1999-01-19 Kaiser Optical Systems, Inc. Fiber optic probe with integral optical filtering
US5843000A (en) 1996-05-07 1998-12-01 The General Hospital Corporation Optical biopsy forceps and method of diagnosing tissue
ATA84696A (en) * 1996-05-14 1998-03-15 Adolf Friedrich Dr Fercher METHOD AND ARRANGEMENTS FOR INCREASING CONTRAST IN OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY
US6020963A (en) * 1996-06-04 2000-02-01 Northeastern University Optical quadrature Interferometer
US5795295A (en) * 1996-06-25 1998-08-18 Carl Zeiss, Inc. OCT-assisted surgical microscope with multi-coordinate manipulator
US5842995A (en) 1996-06-28 1998-12-01 Board Of Regents, The Univerisity Of Texas System Spectroscopic probe for in vivo measurement of raman signals
US6296608B1 (en) 1996-07-08 2001-10-02 Boston Scientific Corporation Diagnosing and performing interventional procedures on tissue in vivo
US6245026B1 (en) 1996-07-29 2001-06-12 Farallon Medsystems, Inc. Thermography catheter
US6396941B1 (en) 1996-08-23 2002-05-28 Bacus Research Laboratories, Inc. Method and apparatus for internet, intranet, and local viewing of virtual microscope slides
US5840075A (en) 1996-08-23 1998-11-24 Eclipse Surgical Technologies, Inc. Dual laser device for transmyocardial revascularization procedures
US6544193B2 (en) * 1996-09-04 2003-04-08 Marcio Marc Abreu Noninvasive measurement of chemical substances
JPH1090603A (en) 1996-09-18 1998-04-10 Olympus Optical Co Ltd Endscopic optical system
US5801831A (en) 1996-09-20 1998-09-01 Institute For Space And Terrestrial Science Fabry-Perot spectrometer for detecting a spatially varying spectral signature of an extended source
US6249349B1 (en) 1996-09-27 2001-06-19 Vincent Lauer Microscope generating a three-dimensional representation of an object
DE19640495C2 (en) 1996-10-01 1999-12-16 Leica Microsystems Device for confocal surface measurement
US5843052A (en) 1996-10-04 1998-12-01 Benja-Athon; Anuthep Irrigation kit for application of fluids and chemicals for cleansing and sterilizing wounds
US5752518A (en) 1996-10-28 1998-05-19 Ep Technologies, Inc. Systems and methods for visualizing interior regions of the body
US5904651A (en) 1996-10-28 1999-05-18 Ep Technologies, Inc. Systems and methods for visualizing tissue during diagnostic or therapeutic procedures
US6044288A (en) * 1996-11-08 2000-03-28 Imaging Diagnostics Systems, Inc. Apparatus and method for determining the perimeter of the surface of an object being scanned
US5872879A (en) 1996-11-25 1999-02-16 Boston Scientific Corporation Rotatable connecting optical fibers
US6517532B1 (en) * 1997-05-15 2003-02-11 Palomar Medical Technologies, Inc. Light energy delivery head
US6437867B2 (en) 1996-12-04 2002-08-20 The Research Foundation Of The City University Of New York Performing selected optical measurements with optical coherence domain reflectometry
US6249630B1 (en) 1996-12-13 2001-06-19 Imra America, Inc. Apparatus and method for delivery of dispersion-compensated ultrashort optical pulses with high peak power
US5871449A (en) * 1996-12-27 1999-02-16 Brown; David Lloyd Device and method for locating inflamed plaque in an artery
US5991697A (en) 1996-12-31 1999-11-23 The Regents Of The University Of California Method and apparatus for optical Doppler tomographic imaging of fluid flow velocity in highly scattering media
WO1998029768A1 (en) 1996-12-31 1998-07-09 Corning Incorporated Optical couplers with multilayer fibers
US5760901A (en) 1997-01-28 1998-06-02 Zetetic Institute Method and apparatus for confocal interference microscopy with background amplitude reduction and compensation
JP3213250B2 (en) 1997-01-29 2001-10-02 株式会社生体光情報研究所 Optical measurement device
US5801826A (en) 1997-02-18 1998-09-01 Williams Family Trust B Spectrometric device and method for recognizing atomic and molecular signatures
US5836877A (en) 1997-02-24 1998-11-17 Lucid Inc System for facilitating pathological examination of a lesion in tissue
US6010449A (en) * 1997-02-28 2000-01-04 Lumend, Inc. Intravascular catheter system for treating a vascular occlusion
US5968064A (en) 1997-02-28 1999-10-19 Lumend, Inc. Catheter system for treating a vascular occlusion
US6120516A (en) 1997-02-28 2000-09-19 Lumend, Inc. Method for treating vascular occlusion
WO1998038907A1 (en) 1997-03-06 1998-09-11 Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Instrument for optically scanning of living tissue
CA2283949A1 (en) * 1997-03-13 1998-09-17 Haishan Zeng Methods and apparatus for detecting the rejection of transplanted tissue
US6078047A (en) 1997-03-14 2000-06-20 Lucent Technologies Inc. Method and apparatus for terahertz tomographic imaging
US5994690A (en) 1997-03-17 1999-11-30 Kulkarni; Manish D. Image enhancement in optical coherence tomography using deconvolution
JPH10267830A (en) 1997-03-26 1998-10-09 Kowa Co Optical measuring device
JPH10267631A (en) 1997-03-26 1998-10-09 Kowa Co Optical measuring instrument
GB9707414D0 (en) 1997-04-11 1997-05-28 Imperial College Anatomical probe
WO1998048845A1 (en) 1997-04-29 1998-11-05 Nycomed Imaging As Method of demarcating tissue
WO1998048846A1 (en) 1997-04-29 1998-11-05 Nycomed Imaging As Light imaging contrast agents
US6117128A (en) 1997-04-30 2000-09-12 Kenton W. Gregory Energy delivery catheter and method for the use thereof
US5887009A (en) * 1997-05-22 1999-03-23 Optical Biopsy Technologies, Inc. Confocal optical scanning system employing a fiber laser
US6002480A (en) 1997-06-02 1999-12-14 Izatt; Joseph A. Depth-resolved spectroscopic optical coherence tomography
EP1007901B1 (en) 1997-06-02 2009-04-29 Joseph A. Izatt Doppler flow imaging using optical coherence tomography
US6208415B1 (en) * 1997-06-12 2001-03-27 The Regents Of The University Of California Birefringence imaging in biological tissue using polarization sensitive optical coherent tomography
JP2002516586A (en) 1997-06-23 2002-06-04 ティーエイチエス インターナショナル,インコーポレイテッド Method and apparatus for providing acoustic hemostasis
US5920390A (en) 1997-06-26 1999-07-06 University Of North Carolina Fiberoptic interferometer and associated method for analyzing tissue
US6048349A (en) 1997-07-09 2000-04-11 Intraluminal Therapeutics, Inc. Systems and methods for guiding a medical instrument through a body
US6058352A (en) 1997-07-25 2000-05-02 Physical Optics Corporation Accurate tissue injury assessment using hybrid neural network analysis
US5921926A (en) 1997-07-28 1999-07-13 University Of Central Florida Three dimensional optical imaging colposcopy
US6014214A (en) * 1997-08-21 2000-01-11 Li; Ming-Chiang High speed inspection of a sample using coherence processing of scattered superbroad radiation
US5892583A (en) 1997-08-21 1999-04-06 Li; Ming-Chiang High speed inspection of a sample using superbroad radiation coherent interferometer
US6069698A (en) 1997-08-28 2000-05-30 Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. Optical imaging apparatus which radiates a low coherence light beam onto a test object, receives optical information from light scattered by the object, and constructs therefrom a cross-sectional image of the object
US6297018B1 (en) 1998-04-17 2001-10-02 Ljl Biosystems, Inc. Methods and apparatus for detecting nucleic acid polymorphisms
US5920373A (en) 1997-09-24 1999-07-06 Heidelberg Engineering Optische Messysteme Gmbh Method and apparatus for determining optical characteristics of a cornea
US6193676B1 (en) * 1997-10-03 2001-02-27 Intraluminal Therapeutics, Inc. Guide wire assembly
US5951482A (en) 1997-10-03 1999-09-14 Intraluminal Therapeutics, Inc. Assemblies and methods for advancing a guide wire through body tissue
US6091984A (en) 1997-10-10 2000-07-18 Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Measuring tissue morphology
US5955737A (en) 1997-10-27 1999-09-21 Systems & Processes Engineering Corporation Chemometric analysis for extraction of individual fluorescence spectrum and lifetimes from a target mixture
US6052186A (en) 1997-11-05 2000-04-18 Excel Precision, Inc. Dual laser system for extended heterodyne interferometry
US6134010A (en) 1997-11-07 2000-10-17 Lucid, Inc. Imaging system using polarization effects to enhance image quality
US6037579A (en) * 1997-11-13 2000-03-14 Biophotonics Information Laboratories, Ltd. Optical interferometer employing multiple detectors to detect spatially distorted wavefront in imaging of scattering media
US6107048A (en) 1997-11-20 2000-08-22 Medical College Of Georgia Research Institute, Inc. Method of detecting and grading dysplasia in epithelial tissue
EP1103041B1 (en) 1998-01-28 2016-03-23 Immersion Medical, Inc. Interface device and method for interfacing instruments to medical procedure simulation system
US6165170A (en) 1998-01-29 2000-12-26 International Business Machines Corporation Laser dermablator and dermablation
US6134033A (en) 1998-02-26 2000-10-17 Tyco Submarine Systems Ltd. Method and apparatus for improving spectral efficiency in wavelength division multiplexed transmission systems
US6831781B2 (en) 1998-02-26 2004-12-14 The General Hospital Corporation Confocal microscopy with multi-spectral encoding and system and apparatus for spectroscopically encoded confocal microscopy
EP2267506A3 (en) 1998-02-26 2011-03-02 The General Hospital Corporation Confocal microscopy with multi-spectral encoding
AUPP203698A0 (en) 1998-02-26 1998-03-19 Coms21 Limited Reader
US6048742A (en) 1998-02-26 2000-04-11 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Air Force Process for measuring the thickness and composition of thin semiconductor films deposited on semiconductor wafers
RU2148378C1 (en) 1998-03-06 2000-05-10 Геликонов Валентин Михайлович Device for performing optic coherent tomography, optic fiber scanning device and method for diagnosing biological tissue in vivo
US6174291B1 (en) * 1998-03-09 2001-01-16 Spectrascience, Inc. Optical biopsy system and methods for tissue diagnosis
US6066102A (en) 1998-03-09 2000-05-23 Spectrascience, Inc. Optical biopsy forceps system and method of diagnosing tissue
US6151522A (en) 1998-03-16 2000-11-21 The Research Foundation Of Cuny Method and system for examining biological materials using low power CW excitation raman spectroscopy
US6175669B1 (en) * 1998-03-30 2001-01-16 The Regents Of The Universtiy Of California Optical coherence domain reflectometry guidewire
US6384915B1 (en) 1998-03-30 2002-05-07 The Regents Of The University Of California Catheter guided by optical coherence domain reflectometry
DE19814057B4 (en) 1998-03-30 2009-01-02 Carl Zeiss Meditec Ag Arrangement for optical coherence tomography and coherence topography
US6996549B2 (en) 1998-05-01 2006-02-07 Health Discovery Corporation Computer-aided image analysis
AU3781799A (en) 1998-05-01 1999-11-23 Board Of Regents, The University Of Texas System Method and apparatus for subsurface imaging
JPH11326826A (en) 1998-05-13 1999-11-26 Sony Corp Illuminating method and illuminator
US6053613A (en) * 1998-05-15 2000-04-25 Carl Zeiss, Inc. Optical coherence tomography with new interferometer
FR2778838A1 (en) 1998-05-19 1999-11-26 Koninkl Philips Electronics Nv METHOD FOR DETECTING VARIATIONS IN ELASTICITY AND ECHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS FOR CARRYING OUT THIS METHOD
US5995223A (en) 1998-06-01 1999-11-30 Power; Joan Fleurette Apparatus for rapid phase imaging interferometry and method therefor
JPH11352409A (en) 1998-06-05 1999-12-24 Olympus Optical Co Ltd Fluorescence detector
US6549801B1 (en) 1998-06-11 2003-04-15 The Regents Of The University Of California Phase-resolved optical coherence tomography and optical doppler tomography for imaging fluid flow in tissue with fast scanning speed and high velocity sensitivity
EP1100392B1 (en) 1998-07-15 2009-02-25 Corazon Technologies, Inc. devices for reducing the mineral content of vascular calcified lesions
US6166373A (en) 1998-07-21 2000-12-26 The Institute For Technology Development Focal plane scanner with reciprocating spatial window
JP2000046729A (en) 1998-07-31 2000-02-18 Takahisa Mitsui Apparatus and method for high-speed measurement of optical topographic image by using wavelength dispersion
US6741884B1 (en) 1998-09-03 2004-05-25 Hypermed, Inc. Infrared endoscopic balloon probes
US8024027B2 (en) 1998-09-03 2011-09-20 Hyperspectral Imaging, Inc. Infrared endoscopic balloon probes
JP4474050B2 (en) 1998-09-11 2010-06-02 スペクトルックス・インコーポレイテッド Multi-mode optical tissue diagnosis system
AU6417599A (en) 1998-10-08 2000-04-26 University Of Kentucky Research Foundation, The Methods and apparatus for (in vivo) identification and characterization of vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques
JP2000121961A (en) 1998-10-13 2000-04-28 Olympus Optical Co Ltd Confocal optical scanning probe system
US6274871B1 (en) 1998-10-22 2001-08-14 Vysis, Inc. Method and system for performing infrared study on a biological sample
US6324419B1 (en) 1998-10-27 2001-11-27 Nejat Guzelsu Apparatus and method for non-invasive measurement of stretch
JP2000126116A (en) 1998-10-28 2000-05-09 Olympus Optical Co Ltd Photo-diagnosis system
US6524249B2 (en) 1998-11-11 2003-02-25 Spentech, Inc. Doppler ultrasound method and apparatus for monitoring blood flow and detecting emboli
US6516014B1 (en) * 1998-11-13 2003-02-04 The Research And Development Institute, Inc. Programmable frequency reference for laser frequency stabilization, and arbitrary optical clock generator, using persistent spectral hole burning
EP1002497B1 (en) 1998-11-20 2006-07-26 Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. Blood vessel imaging system
US6352502B1 (en) 1998-12-03 2002-03-05 Lightouch Medical, Inc. Methods for obtaining enhanced spectroscopic information from living tissue, noninvasive assessment of skin condition and detection of skin abnormalities
RU2149464C1 (en) 1999-01-19 2000-05-20 Таганрогский государственный радиотехнический университет Dynamic memory unit for storage of radio signals
US6191862B1 (en) 1999-01-20 2001-02-20 Lightlab Imaging, Llc Methods and apparatus for high speed longitudinal scanning in imaging systems
US6272376B1 (en) 1999-01-22 2001-08-07 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Time-resolved, laser-induced fluorescence for the characterization of organic material
US6445944B1 (en) 1999-02-01 2002-09-03 Scimed Life Systems Medical scanning system and related method of scanning
US6615072B1 (en) 1999-02-04 2003-09-02 Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. Optical imaging device
US6185271B1 (en) * 1999-02-16 2001-02-06 Richard Estyn Kinsinger Helical computed tomography with feedback scan control
DE19908883A1 (en) 1999-03-02 2000-09-07 Rainer Heintzmann Process for increasing the resolution of optical imaging
US20070048818A1 (en) 1999-03-12 2007-03-01 Human Genome Sciences, Inc. Human secreted proteins
CA2367804A1 (en) 1999-03-29 2000-10-05 Mark A. Hamm Single mode optical fiber coupling systems
US6859275B2 (en) 1999-04-09 2005-02-22 Plain Sight Systems, Inc. System and method for encoded spatio-spectral information processing
US6264610B1 (en) 1999-05-05 2001-07-24 The University Of Connecticut Combined ultrasound and near infrared diffused light imaging system
US6353693B1 (en) * 1999-05-31 2002-03-05 Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. Optical communication device and slip ring unit for an electronic component-mounting apparatus
US6993170B2 (en) 1999-06-23 2006-01-31 Icoria, Inc. Method for quantitative analysis of blood vessel structure
JP2001004447A (en) 1999-06-23 2001-01-12 Yokogawa Electric Corp Spectrometer
US6611833B1 (en) 1999-06-23 2003-08-26 Tissueinformatics, Inc. Methods for profiling and classifying tissue using a database that includes indices representative of a tissue population
US6208887B1 (en) * 1999-06-24 2001-03-27 Richard H. Clarke Catheter-delivered low resolution Raman scattering analyzing system for detecting lesions
US7426409B2 (en) 1999-06-25 2008-09-16 Board Of Regents, The University Of Texas System Method and apparatus for detecting vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque
GB9915082D0 (en) 1999-06-28 1999-08-25 Univ London Optical fibre probe
US6359692B1 (en) * 1999-07-09 2002-03-19 Zygo Corporation Method and system for profiling objects having multiple reflective surfaces using wavelength-tuning phase-shifting interferometry
JP2003504627A (en) 1999-07-13 2003-02-04 クロマビジョン メディカル システムズ インコーポレイテッド Automatic detection of objects in biological samples
DE60020566T2 (en) 1999-07-30 2006-05-04 Boston Scientific Ltd., St. Michael CATHETER WITH DRIVE AND CLUTCH FOR TURNING AND LENGTH SHIFTING
DE60032637T2 (en) 1999-07-30 2007-11-15 Ceramoptec Gmbh MEDICAL DIODE LASER SYSTEM WITH TWO WAVE LENGTHS
JP2001046321A (en) 1999-08-09 2001-02-20 Asahi Optical Co Ltd Endoscope device
US6445939B1 (en) 1999-08-09 2002-09-03 Lightlab Imaging, Llc Ultra-small optical probes, imaging optics, and methods for using same
US6725073B1 (en) 1999-08-17 2004-04-20 Board Of Regents, The University Of Texas System Methods for noninvasive analyte sensing
JP3869589B2 (en) 1999-09-02 2007-01-17 ペンタックス株式会社 Fiber bundle and endoscope apparatus
US6687010B1 (en) * 1999-09-09 2004-02-03 Olympus Corporation Rapid depth scanning optical imaging device
JP4464519B2 (en) 2000-03-21 2010-05-19 オリンパス株式会社 Optical imaging device
US6198956B1 (en) * 1999-09-30 2001-03-06 Oti Ophthalmic Technologies Inc. High speed sector scanning apparatus having digital electronic control
JP2001174744A (en) 1999-10-06 2001-06-29 Olympus Optical Co Ltd Optical scanning probe device
US6308092B1 (en) 1999-10-13 2001-10-23 C. R. Bard Inc. Optical fiber tissue localization device
US6393312B1 (en) 1999-10-13 2002-05-21 C. R. Bard, Inc. Connector for coupling an optical fiber tissue localization device to a light source
AU1182401A (en) 1999-10-15 2001-04-23 Cellavision Ab Microscope and method for manufacturing a composite image with a high resolution
US6538817B1 (en) * 1999-10-25 2003-03-25 Aculight Corporation Method and apparatus for optical coherence tomography with a multispectral laser source
JP2001125009A (en) 1999-10-28 2001-05-11 Asahi Optical Co Ltd Endoscope
IL132687A0 (en) 1999-11-01 2001-03-19 Keren Mechkarim Ichilov Pnimit System and method for evaluating body fluid samples
WO2001036948A1 (en) 1999-11-19 2001-05-25 Jobin Yvon, Inc. Compact spectrofluorometer
US7236637B2 (en) 1999-11-24 2007-06-26 Ge Medical Systems Information Technologies, Inc. Method and apparatus for transmission and display of a compressed digitized image
ATE263356T1 (en) 1999-11-24 2004-04-15 Haag Ag Streit METHOD AND DEVICE FOR MEASURING OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF AT LEAST TWO DISTANCED AREAS IN A TRANSPARENT AND/OR DIFFUSIVE OBJECT
JP2003516531A (en) 1999-12-09 2003-05-13 オーティーアイ オフサルミック テクノロジーズ インク Optical mapping device with variable depth resolution
JP2001174404A (en) 1999-12-15 2001-06-29 Takahisa Mitsui Apparatus and method for measuring optical tomographic image
US6738144B1 (en) 1999-12-17 2004-05-18 University Of Central Florida Non-invasive method and low-coherence apparatus system analysis and process control
US6680780B1 (en) * 1999-12-23 2004-01-20 Agere Systems, Inc. Interferometric probe stabilization relative to subject movement
US6445485B1 (en) 2000-01-21 2002-09-03 At&T Corp. Micro-machine polarization-state controller
AU2001229916A1 (en) 2000-01-27 2001-08-07 National Research Council Of Canada Visible-near infrared spectroscopy in burn injury assessment
JP3660185B2 (en) 2000-02-07 2005-06-15 独立行政法人科学技術振興機構 Tomographic image forming method and apparatus therefor
US6475210B1 (en) 2000-02-11 2002-11-05 Medventure Technology Corp Light treatment of vulnerable atherosclerosis plaque
US6556305B1 (en) 2000-02-17 2003-04-29 Veeco Instruments, Inc. Pulsed source scanning interferometer
US6618143B2 (en) 2000-02-18 2003-09-09 Idexx Laboratories, Inc. High numerical aperture flow cytometer and method of using same
US6751490B2 (en) * 2000-03-01 2004-06-15 The Board Of Regents Of The University Of Texas System Continuous optoacoustic monitoring of hemoglobin concentration and hematocrit
US6687013B2 (en) 2000-03-28 2004-02-03 Hitachi, Ltd. Laser interferometer displacement measuring system, exposure apparatus, and electron beam lithography apparatus
US6593101B2 (en) 2000-03-28 2003-07-15 Board Of Regents, The University Of Texas System Enhancing contrast in biological imaging
US6567585B2 (en) 2000-04-04 2003-05-20 Optiscan Pty Ltd Z sharpening for fibre confocal microscopes
US6692430B2 (en) * 2000-04-10 2004-02-17 C2Cure Inc. Intra vascular imaging apparatus
EP1299057A2 (en) 2000-04-27 2003-04-09 Iridex Corporation Method and apparatus for real-time detection, control and recording of sub-clinical therapeutic laser lesions during ocular laser photocoagulation
US6711283B1 (en) 2000-05-03 2004-03-23 Aperio Technologies, Inc. Fully automatic rapid microscope slide scanner
US6301048B1 (en) 2000-05-19 2001-10-09 Avanex Corporation Tunable chromatic dispersion and dispersion slope compensator utilizing a virtually imaged phased array
US6441959B1 (en) 2000-05-19 2002-08-27 Avanex Corporation Method and system for testing a tunable chromatic dispersion, dispersion slope, and polarization mode dispersion compensator utilizing a virtually imaged phased array
US6560259B1 (en) 2000-05-31 2003-05-06 Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. Spatially coherent surface-emitting, grating coupled quantum cascade laser with unstable resonance cavity
US6975898B2 (en) 2000-06-19 2005-12-13 University Of Washington Medical imaging, diagnosis, and therapy using a scanning single optical fiber system
JP4460117B2 (en) 2000-06-29 2010-05-12 独立行政法人理化学研究所 Grism
JP2002035005A (en) 2000-07-21 2002-02-05 Olympus Optical Co Ltd Therapeutic device
US6757467B1 (en) 2000-07-25 2004-06-29 Optical Air Data Systems, Lp Optical fiber system
US6441356B1 (en) * 2000-07-28 2002-08-27 Optical Biopsy Technologies Fiber-coupled, high-speed, angled-dual-axis optical coherence scanning microscopes
US6882432B2 (en) 2000-08-08 2005-04-19 Zygo Corporation Frequency transform phase shifting interferometry
AU2001279603A1 (en) 2000-08-11 2002-02-25 Crystal Fibre A/S Optical wavelength converter
US7625335B2 (en) 2000-08-25 2009-12-01 3Shape Aps Method and apparatus for three-dimensional optical scanning of interior surfaces
DE10042840A1 (en) 2000-08-30 2002-03-14 Leica Microsystems Device and method for exciting fluorescence microscope markers in multiphoton scanning microscopy
WO2002021170A1 (en) 2000-09-05 2002-03-14 Arroyo Optics, Inc. System and method for fabricating components of precise optical path length
JP2002095663A (en) 2000-09-26 2002-04-02 Fuji Photo Film Co Ltd Method of acquiring optical tomographic image of sentinel lymph node and its device
JP2002113017A (en) 2000-10-05 2002-04-16 Fuji Photo Film Co Ltd Laser treatment device
US6683686B2 (en) * 2000-10-10 2004-01-27 Photonica Pty Ltd Temporally resolved wavelength measurement method and apparatus
ATE454845T1 (en) 2000-10-30 2010-01-15 Gen Hospital Corp OPTICAL SYSTEMS FOR TISSUE ANALYSIS
JP3842101B2 (en) 2000-10-31 2006-11-08 富士写真フイルム株式会社 Endoscope device
US6687036B2 (en) * 2000-11-03 2004-02-03 Nuonics, Inc. Multiplexed optical scanner technology
JP2002148185A (en) 2000-11-08 2002-05-22 Fuji Photo Film Co Ltd Oct apparatus
GB2368889B (en) 2000-11-09 2004-02-04 Textron Fastening Syst Ltd Method of manufacturing a blind threaded insert
US9295391B1 (en) 2000-11-10 2016-03-29 The General Hospital Corporation Spectrally encoded miniature endoscopic imaging probe
EP1409721A2 (en) 2000-11-13 2004-04-21 Gnothis Holding SA Detection of nucleic acid polymorphisms
US6665075B2 (en) 2000-11-14 2003-12-16 Wm. Marshurice University Interferometric imaging system and method
DE10057539B4 (en) 2000-11-20 2008-06-12 Robert Bosch Gmbh Interferometric measuring device
US6558324B1 (en) 2000-11-22 2003-05-06 Siemens Medical Solutions, Inc., Usa System and method for strain image display
US6856712B2 (en) 2000-11-27 2005-02-15 University Of Washington Micro-fabricated optical waveguide for use in scanning fiber displays and scanned fiber image acquisition
US7027633B2 (en) 2000-11-30 2006-04-11 Foran David J Collaborative diagnostic systems
JP4786027B2 (en) 2000-12-08 2011-10-05 オリンパス株式会社 Optical system and optical apparatus
US6687007B1 (en) * 2000-12-14 2004-02-03 Kestrel Corporation Common path interferometer for spectral image generation
US6501878B2 (en) 2000-12-14 2002-12-31 Nortel Networks Limited Optical fiber termination
CA2433022C (en) 2000-12-28 2016-12-06 Palomar Medical Technologies, Inc. Method and apparatus for therapeutic emr treatment of the skin
US7230708B2 (en) 2000-12-28 2007-06-12 Dmitri Olegovich Lapotko Method and device for photothermal examination of microinhomogeneities
US6515752B2 (en) 2000-12-28 2003-02-04 Coretek, Inc. Wavelength monitoring system
EP1221581A1 (en) 2001-01-04 2002-07-10 Universität Stuttgart Interferometer
JP2002205434A (en) 2001-01-10 2002-07-23 Seiko Epson Corp Image output unit and printing system
US7285091B2 (en) 2001-01-11 2007-10-23 The Johns Hopkins University Assessment of tooth structure using laser based ultrasonics
US7177491B2 (en) 2001-01-12 2007-02-13 Board Of Regents The University Of Texas System Fiber-based optical low coherence tomography
JP3628615B2 (en) 2001-01-16 2005-03-16 独立行政法人科学技術振興機構 Heterodyne beat image synchronous measurement device
US6697652B2 (en) 2001-01-19 2004-02-24 Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Fluorescence, reflectance and light scattering spectroscopy for measuring tissue
EP1358443A2 (en) 2001-01-22 2003-11-05 Jonathan E. Roth Method and apparatus for polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography
US7973936B2 (en) 2001-01-30 2011-07-05 Board Of Trustees Of Michigan State University Control system and apparatus for use with ultra-fast laser
US20020140942A1 (en) 2001-02-17 2002-10-03 Fee Michale Sean Acousto-optic monitoring and imaging in a depth sensitive manner
GB0104378D0 (en) 2001-02-22 2001-04-11 Expro North Sea Ltd Improved tubing coupling
US6654127B2 (en) 2001-03-01 2003-11-25 Carl Zeiss Ophthalmic Systems, Inc. Optical delay line
US6721094B1 (en) 2001-03-05 2004-04-13 Sandia Corporation Long working distance interference microscope
US7244232B2 (en) 2001-03-07 2007-07-17 Biomed Solutions, Llc Process for identifying cancerous and/or metastatic cells of a living organism
IL142773A (en) 2001-03-08 2007-10-31 Xtellus Inc Fiber optical attenuator
JP2002263055A (en) 2001-03-12 2002-09-17 Olympus Optical Co Ltd Tip hood for endoscope
US6563995B2 (en) 2001-04-02 2003-05-13 Lightwave Electronics Optical wavelength filtering apparatus with depressed-index claddings
US6552796B2 (en) 2001-04-06 2003-04-22 Lightlab Imaging, Llc Apparatus and method for selective data collection and signal to noise ratio enhancement using optical coherence tomography
US7139598B2 (en) 2002-04-04 2006-11-21 Veralight, Inc. Determination of a measure of a glycation end-product or disease state using tissue fluorescence
WO2002083003A1 (en) 2001-04-11 2002-10-24 Clarke Dana S Tissue structure identification in advance of instrument
US20020158211A1 (en) 2001-04-16 2002-10-31 Dakota Technologies, Inc. Multi-dimensional fluorescence apparatus and method for rapid and highly sensitive quantitative analysis of mixtures
DE10118760A1 (en) 2001-04-17 2002-10-31 Med Laserzentrum Luebeck Gmbh Procedure for determining the runtime distribution and arrangement
EP2333523B1 (en) 2001-04-30 2020-04-08 The General Hospital Corporation Method and apparatus for improving image clarity and sensitivity in optical coherence tomography using dynamic feedback to control focal properties and coherence gating
US7616986B2 (en) 2001-05-07 2009-11-10 University Of Washington Optical fiber scanner for performing multimodal optical imaging
US6615062B2 (en) 2001-05-31 2003-09-02 Infraredx, Inc. Referencing optical catheters
US6701181B2 (en) 2001-05-31 2004-03-02 Infraredx, Inc. Multi-path optical catheter
DE60219627T2 (en) 2001-06-04 2008-02-07 The General Hospital Corp., Boston IDENTIFICATION AND THERAPY OF SENSITIVE PLAQUE WITH PHOTODYNAMIC COMPOUNDS
US6879851B2 (en) 2001-06-07 2005-04-12 Lightlab Imaging, Llc Fiber optic endoscopic gastrointestinal probe
EP1191321B1 (en) 2001-06-07 2002-12-11 Agilent Technologies, Inc. (a Delaware corporation) Determination of properties of an optical device
DE10129651B4 (en) 2001-06-15 2010-07-08 Carl Zeiss Jena Gmbh Method for compensation of the dispersion in signals of short-coherence and / or OCT interferometers
US6702744B2 (en) * 2001-06-20 2004-03-09 Advanced Cardiovascular Systems, Inc. Agents that stimulate therapeutic angiogenesis and techniques and devices that enable their delivery
US20040166593A1 (en) 2001-06-22 2004-08-26 Nolte David D. Adaptive interferometric multi-analyte high-speed biosensor
US6685885B2 (en) * 2001-06-22 2004-02-03 Purdue Research Foundation Bio-optical compact dist system
US6723090B2 (en) 2001-07-02 2004-04-20 Palomar Medical Technologies, Inc. Fiber laser device for medical/cosmetic procedures
US6795199B2 (en) 2001-07-18 2004-09-21 Avraham Suhami Method and apparatus for dispersion compensated reflected time-of-flight tomography
DE10137530A1 (en) 2001-08-01 2003-02-13 Presens Prec Sensing Gmbh Arrangement and method for multiple fluorescence measurement
AU2002337666A1 (en) 2001-08-03 2003-02-17 Joseph A. Izatt Aspects of basic oct engine technologies for high speed optical coherence tomography and light source and other improvements in oct
US20030030816A1 (en) * 2001-08-11 2003-02-13 Eom Tae Bong Nonlinearity error correcting method and phase angle measuring method for displacement measurement in two-freqency laser interferometer and displacement measurement system using the same
US6900899B2 (en) 2001-08-20 2005-05-31 Agilent Technologies, Inc. Interferometers with coated polarizing beam splitters that are rotated to optimize extinction ratios
US20030045798A1 (en) 2001-09-04 2003-03-06 Richard Hular Multisensor probe for tissue identification
EP1293925A1 (en) 2001-09-18 2003-03-19 Agfa-Gevaert Radiographic scoring method
US6961123B1 (en) 2001-09-28 2005-11-01 The Texas A&M University System Method and apparatus for obtaining information from polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography
JP2003102672A (en) 2001-10-01 2003-04-08 Japan Science & Technology Corp Method and device for automatically detecting, treating, and collecting objective site of lesion or the like
DE10150934A1 (en) 2001-10-09 2003-04-10 Zeiss Carl Jena Gmbh Depth resolved measurement and imaging of biological samples using laser scanning microscopy, whereby heterodyne detection and optical modulation is used to allow imaging of deep sample regions
US7822470B2 (en) 2001-10-11 2010-10-26 Osypka Medical Gmbh Method for determining the left-ventricular ejection time TLVE of a heart of a subject
US6980299B1 (en) 2001-10-16 2005-12-27 General Hospital Corporation Systems and methods for imaging a sample
US6658278B2 (en) 2001-10-17 2003-12-02 Terumo Cardiovascular Systems Corporation Steerable infrared imaging catheter having steering fins
US7006231B2 (en) * 2001-10-18 2006-02-28 Scimed Life Systems, Inc. Diffraction grating based interferometric systems and methods
US6749344B2 (en) 2001-10-24 2004-06-15 Scimed Life Systems, Inc. Connection apparatus for optical coherence tomography catheters
US6661513B1 (en) 2001-11-21 2003-12-09 Roygbiv, Llc Refractive-diffractive spectrometer
EP1463441A4 (en) 2001-12-11 2009-01-21 C2Cure Inc Apparatus, method and system for intravascular photographic imaging
US20030216719A1 (en) 2001-12-12 2003-11-20 Len Debenedictis Method and apparatus for treating skin using patterns of optical energy
WO2003052883A2 (en) 2001-12-14 2003-06-26 Agilent Technologies, Inc. Retro-reflecting device in particular for tunable lasers
US7365858B2 (en) 2001-12-18 2008-04-29 Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Systems and methods for phase measurements
US7736301B1 (en) 2001-12-18 2010-06-15 Advanced Cardiovascular Systems, Inc. Rotatable ferrules and interfaces for use with an optical guidewire
US6975891B2 (en) 2001-12-21 2005-12-13 Nir Diagnostics Inc. Raman spectroscopic system with integrating cavity
US6947787B2 (en) 2001-12-21 2005-09-20 Advanced Cardiovascular Systems, Inc. System and methods for imaging within a body lumen
EP1324051A1 (en) 2001-12-26 2003-07-02 Kevin R. Forrester Motion measuring device
US20080154090A1 (en) 2005-01-04 2008-06-26 Dune Medical Devices Ltd. Endoscopic System for In-Vivo Procedures
EP1468245B1 (en) 2002-01-11 2011-03-30 The General Hospital Corporation Apparatus for OCT imaging with axial line focus for improved resolution and depth of field
US7072045B2 (en) 2002-01-16 2006-07-04 The Regents Of The University Of California High resolution optical coherence tomography with an improved depth range using an axicon lens
EP1470410B1 (en) * 2002-01-24 2012-01-11 The General Hospital Corporation Apparatus and method for rangings and noise reduction of low coherence interferometry (lci) and optical coherence tomography (oct) signals by parallel detection of spectral bands
US7355716B2 (en) * 2002-01-24 2008-04-08 The General Hospital Corporation Apparatus and method for ranging and noise reduction of low coherence interferometry LCI and optical coherence tomography OCT signals by parallel detection of spectral bands
RU2240502C1 (en) 2002-02-14 2004-11-20 Феликс Исаакович Фельдштейн Method for analysis of object and optical interferometer for realization of said method
US20030165263A1 (en) 2002-02-19 2003-09-04 Hamer Michael J. Histological assessment
US7116887B2 (en) 2002-03-19 2006-10-03 Nufern Optical fiber
US7113818B2 (en) 2002-04-08 2006-09-26 Oti Ophthalmic Technologies Inc. Apparatus for high resolution imaging of moving organs
US7016048B2 (en) 2002-04-09 2006-03-21 The Regents Of The University Of California Phase-resolved functional optical coherence tomography: simultaneous imaging of the stokes vectors, structure, blood flow velocity, standard deviation and birefringence in biological samples
US20030236443A1 (en) 2002-04-19 2003-12-25 Cespedes Eduardo Ignacio Methods and apparatus for the identification and stabilization of vulnerable plaque
US7503904B2 (en) 2002-04-25 2009-03-17 Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc. Dual balloon telescoping guiding catheter
JP4135551B2 (en) 2002-05-07 2008-08-20 松下電工株式会社 Position sensor
JP3834789B2 (en) * 2002-05-17 2006-10-18 独立行政法人科学技術振興機構 Autonomous ultra-short optical pulse compression, phase compensation, waveform shaping device
US7272252B2 (en) 2002-06-12 2007-09-18 Clarient, Inc. Automated system for combining bright field and fluorescent microscopy
AU2003245458A1 (en) 2002-06-12 2003-12-31 Advanced Research And Technology Institute, Inc. Method and apparatus for improving both lateral and axial resolution in ophthalmoscopy
JP4045140B2 (en) 2002-06-21 2008-02-13 国立大学法人 筑波大学 Polarization-sensitive optical spectral interference coherence tomography apparatus and method for measuring polarization information inside a sample using the apparatus
RU2213421C1 (en) 2002-06-21 2003-09-27 Южно-Российский государственный университет экономики и сервиса Dynamic radio-signal memory device
US20040039252A1 (en) 2002-06-27 2004-02-26 Koch Kenneth Elmon Self-navigating endotracheal tube
JP3621693B2 (en) 2002-07-01 2005-02-16 フジノン株式会社 Interferometer device
WO2004006751A2 (en) 2002-07-12 2004-01-22 Volker Westphal Method and device for quantitative image correction for optical coherence tomography
JP3950378B2 (en) 2002-07-19 2007-08-01 新日本製鐵株式会社 Synchronous machine
JP4258015B2 (en) 2002-07-31 2009-04-30 毅 椎名 Ultrasonic diagnostic system, strain distribution display method, and elastic modulus distribution display method
US7283247B2 (en) 2002-09-25 2007-10-16 Olympus Corporation Optical probe system
AU2003272667A1 (en) 2002-09-26 2004-04-19 Bio Techplex Corporation Method and apparatus for screening using a waveform modulated led
US6842254B2 (en) 2002-10-16 2005-01-11 Fiso Technologies Inc. System and method for measuring an optical path difference in a sensing interferometer
CN100401994C (en) 2002-10-18 2008-07-16 阿里耶·谢尔 Atherectomy system with imaging guidewire
US20040092829A1 (en) 2002-11-07 2004-05-13 Simon Furnish Spectroscope with modified field-of-view
JP4246986B2 (en) 2002-11-18 2009-04-02 株式会社町田製作所 Vibration object observation system and vocal cord observation processing apparatus
US6847449B2 (en) 2002-11-27 2005-01-25 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Navy Method and apparatus for reducing speckle in optical coherence tomography images
EP1426799A3 (en) 2002-11-29 2005-05-18 Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. Optical demultiplexer, optical multi-/demultiplexer, and optical device
DE10260256B9 (en) 2002-12-20 2007-03-01 Carl Zeiss Interferometer system and measuring / machining tool
GB0229734D0 (en) 2002-12-23 2003-01-29 Qinetiq Ltd Grading oestrogen and progesterone receptors expression
JP4148771B2 (en) 2002-12-27 2008-09-10 株式会社トプコン Laser device for medical machine
US7123363B2 (en) 2003-01-03 2006-10-17 Rose-Hulman Institute Of Technology Speckle pattern analysis method and system
US7643153B2 (en) * 2003-01-24 2010-01-05 The General Hospital Corporation Apparatus and method for ranging and noise reduction of low coherence interferometry LCI and optical coherence tomography OCT signals by parallel detection of spectral bands
US7075658B2 (en) * 2003-01-24 2006-07-11 Duke University Method for optical coherence tomography imaging with molecular contrast
EP1596716B1 (en) 2003-01-24 2014-04-30 The General Hospital Corporation System and method for identifying tissue using low-coherence interferometry
US6943892B2 (en) 2003-01-29 2005-09-13 Sarnoff Corporation Instrument having a multi-mode optical element and method
US7474407B2 (en) * 2003-02-20 2009-01-06 Applied Science Innovations Optical coherence tomography with 3d coherence scanning
JP4338412B2 (en) 2003-02-24 2009-10-07 Hoya株式会社 Confocal probe and confocal microscope
US7271918B2 (en) 2003-03-06 2007-09-18 Zygo Corporation Profiling complex surface structures using scanning interferometry
EP1611470B1 (en) 2003-03-31 2015-10-14 The General Hospital Corporation Speckle reduction in optical coherence tomography by path length encoded angular compounding
US7110109B2 (en) 2003-04-18 2006-09-19 Ahura Corporation Raman spectroscopy system and method and specimen holder therefor
JP4135550B2 (en) 2003-04-18 2008-08-20 日立電線株式会社 Semiconductor light emitting device
JP2004317437A (en) 2003-04-18 2004-11-11 Olympus Corp Optical imaging apparatus
WO2004098396A2 (en) * 2003-05-01 2004-11-18 The Cleveland Clinic Foundation Method and apparatus for measuring a retinal sublayer characteristic
CA2536969C (en) 2003-05-05 2009-09-29 D4D Technologies, L.P. Optical coherence tomography imaging
CN101785656B (en) 2003-05-12 2012-08-15 富士胶片株式会社 Balloon controller for a balloon type endoscope
SE527164C2 (en) 2003-05-14 2006-01-10 Spectracure Ab Interactive therapy/diagnosis system for tumor, has operation mode selector to optically direct non-ionizing electromagnetic therapeutic and/or diagnostic radiation to tumor site, through radiation conductor
US7376455B2 (en) 2003-05-22 2008-05-20 Scimed Life Systems, Inc. Systems and methods for dynamic optical imaging
US7697145B2 (en) 2003-05-28 2010-04-13 Duke University System for fourier domain optical coherence tomography
EP1627248A4 (en) 2003-05-29 2008-06-04 Univ Michigan Double-clad fiber scanning microscope
WO2004111661A2 (en) 2003-05-30 2004-12-23 Duke University System and method for low coherence broadband quadrature interferometry
US7263394B2 (en) 2003-06-04 2007-08-28 Tomophase Corporation Coherence-gated optical glucose monitor
US6943881B2 (en) 2003-06-04 2005-09-13 Tomophase Corporation Measurements of optical inhomogeneity and other properties in substances using propagation modes of light
EP2008579B1 (en) * 2003-06-06 2016-11-09 The General Hospital Corporation Process and apparatus for a wavelength tuned light source
US7458683B2 (en) 2003-06-16 2008-12-02 Amo Manufacturing Usa, Llc Methods and devices for registering optical measurement datasets of an optical system
US7170913B2 (en) 2003-06-19 2007-01-30 Multiwave Photonics, Sa Laser source with configurable output beam characteristics
US20040260182A1 (en) 2003-06-23 2004-12-23 Zuluaga Andres F. Intraluminal spectroscope with wall contacting probe
JP4677208B2 (en) 2003-07-29 2011-04-27 オリンパス株式会社 Confocal microscope
US7307734B2 (en) 2003-08-14 2007-12-11 University Of Central Florida Interferometric sensor for characterizing materials
US7539530B2 (en) 2003-08-22 2009-05-26 Infraredx, Inc. Method and system for spectral examination of vascular walls through blood during cardiac motion
US20050083534A1 (en) 2003-08-28 2005-04-21 Riza Nabeel A. Agile high sensitivity optical sensor
JP2005077964A (en) 2003-09-03 2005-03-24 Fujitsu Ltd Spectroscope apparatus
JP4187160B2 (en) * 2003-09-10 2008-11-26 フジノン株式会社 Tomographic imaging system
US20050057680A1 (en) 2003-09-16 2005-03-17 Agan Martin J. Method and apparatus for controlling integration time in imagers
US20050059894A1 (en) 2003-09-16 2005-03-17 Haishan Zeng Automated endoscopy device, diagnostic method, and uses
US7935055B2 (en) 2003-09-19 2011-05-03 Siemens Medical Solutions Usa, Inc. System and method of measuring disease severity of a patient before, during and after treatment
US6949072B2 (en) 2003-09-22 2005-09-27 Infraredx, Inc. Devices for vulnerable plaque detection
US8172747B2 (en) 2003-09-25 2012-05-08 Hansen Medical, Inc. Balloon visualization for traversing a tissue wall
JP3796550B2 (en) 2003-09-26 2006-07-12 日本電信電話株式会社 Optical interference tomography device
US7142835B2 (en) 2003-09-29 2006-11-28 Silicon Laboratories, Inc. Apparatus and method for digital image correction in a receiver
US7292792B2 (en) 2003-09-30 2007-11-06 Lucent Technologies Inc. High speed modulation of optical subcarriers
DE10349230A1 (en) * 2003-10-23 2005-07-07 Carl Zeiss Meditec Ag Apparatus for interferometric eye length measurement with increased sensitivity
JP5567246B2 (en) 2003-10-27 2014-08-06 ザ ジェネラル ホスピタル コーポレイション Method and apparatus for performing optical imaging using frequency domain interferometry
DE10351319B4 (en) 2003-10-31 2005-10-20 Med Laserzentrum Luebeck Gmbh Interferometer for optical coherence tomography
US7244234B2 (en) 2003-11-11 2007-07-17 Soma Development Llc Ultrasound guided probe device and method of using same
US7130320B2 (en) 2003-11-13 2006-10-31 Mitutoyo Corporation External cavity laser with rotary tuning element
EP1687587B1 (en) 2003-11-28 2020-01-08 The General Hospital Corporation Method and apparatus for three-dimensional spectrally encoded imaging
US7359062B2 (en) * 2003-12-09 2008-04-15 The Regents Of The University Of California High speed spectral domain functional optical coherence tomography and optical doppler tomography for in vivo blood flow dynamics and tissue structure
DE10358735B4 (en) 2003-12-15 2011-04-21 Siemens Ag Catheter device comprising a catheter, in particular an intravascular catheter
JP4414771B2 (en) 2004-01-08 2010-02-10 オリンパス株式会社 Confocal microspectroscope
RU2255426C1 (en) 2004-02-19 2005-06-27 Южно-Российский государственный университет экономики и сервиса Radio-signal dynamic memory device having series binary fiber- optic system
JP4462959B2 (en) 2004-02-25 2010-05-12 富士通株式会社 Microscope image photographing system and method
WO2005082225A1 (en) 2004-02-27 2005-09-09 Optiscan Pty Ltd Optical element
JP2005283155A (en) * 2004-03-26 2005-10-13 Shimizu Kimiya Dispersion correcting apparatus in light interference sectional image imaging method
JP4409334B2 (en) * 2004-03-31 2010-02-03 株式会社トプコン Optical image measuring device
US20050254059A1 (en) 2004-05-14 2005-11-17 Alphonse Gerard A Low coherence interferometric system for optical metrology
US7190464B2 (en) 2004-05-14 2007-03-13 Medeikon Corporation Low coherence interferometry for detecting and characterizing plaques
US7242480B2 (en) 2004-05-14 2007-07-10 Medeikon Corporation Low coherence interferometry for detecting and characterizing plaques
EP1754016B1 (en) 2004-05-29 2016-05-18 The General Hospital Corporation Process, system and software arrangement for a chromatic dispersion compensation using reflective layers in optical coherence tomography (oct) imaging
WO2006014392A1 (en) 2004-07-02 2006-02-09 The General Hospital Corporation Endoscopic imaging probe comprising dual clad fibre
DE102004035269A1 (en) 2004-07-21 2006-02-16 Rowiak Gmbh Laryngoscope with OCT
EP1782020B1 (en) * 2004-08-06 2012-10-03 The General Hospital Corporation Process, system and software arrangement for determining at least one location in a sample using an optical coherence tomography
WO2006020605A2 (en) 2004-08-10 2006-02-23 The Regents Of The University Of California Device and method for the delivery and/or elimination of compounds in tissue
EP1787105A2 (en) * 2004-09-10 2007-05-23 The General Hospital Corporation System and method for optical coherence imaging
JP4997112B2 (en) 2004-09-29 2012-08-08 ザ ジェネラル ホスピタル コーポレイション Apparatus for transmitting at least one electromagnetic radiation and method of manufacturing the same
US7113625B2 (en) 2004-10-01 2006-09-26 U.S. Pathology Labs, Inc. System and method for image analysis of slides
KR100646715B1 (en) 2004-10-18 2006-11-23 한국과학기술원 Method for improving a quality of a 2-d ultrasound image by post-processing
CA2584993A1 (en) 2004-10-22 2006-04-27 Bevan Leslie Reid Analytical method and apparatus
EP1819270B1 (en) 2004-10-29 2012-12-19 The General Hospital Corporation Polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography
US7417740B2 (en) 2004-11-12 2008-08-26 Medeikon Corporation Single trace multi-channel low coherence interferometric sensor
US8617152B2 (en) 2004-11-15 2013-12-31 Medtronic Ablation Frontiers Llc Ablation system with feedback
GB0425419D0 (en) 2004-11-18 2004-12-22 Sira Ltd Interference apparatus and method and probe
WO2006058187A2 (en) 2004-11-23 2006-06-01 Robert Eric Betzig Optical lattice microscopy
GB0426609D0 (en) 2004-12-03 2005-01-05 Ic Innovations Ltd Analysis
JP2006162366A (en) 2004-12-06 2006-06-22 Fujinon Corp Optical tomographic imaging system
US7450242B2 (en) * 2004-12-10 2008-11-11 Fujifilm Corporation Optical tomography apparatus
US7336366B2 (en) * 2005-01-20 2008-02-26 Duke University Methods and systems for reducing complex conjugate ambiguity in interferometric data
US7342659B2 (en) 2005-01-21 2008-03-11 Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc. Cross-dispersed spectrometer in a spectral domain optical coherence tomography system
US7330270B2 (en) * 2005-01-21 2008-02-12 Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc. Method to suppress artifacts in frequency-domain optical coherence tomography
HU227859B1 (en) 2005-01-27 2012-05-02 E Szilveszter Vizi Real-time 3d nonlinear microscope measuring system and its application
US7267494B2 (en) 2005-02-01 2007-09-11 Finisar Corporation Fiber stub for cladding mode coupling reduction
US7860555B2 (en) 2005-02-02 2010-12-28 Voyage Medical, Inc. Tissue visualization and manipulation system
US7664300B2 (en) 2005-02-03 2010-02-16 Sti Medical Systems, Llc Uterine cervical cancer computer-aided-diagnosis (CAD)
DE102005007574B3 (en) 2005-02-18 2006-08-31 Siemens Ag catheter device
US7649160B2 (en) * 2005-02-23 2010-01-19 Lyncee Tec S.A. Wave front sensing method and apparatus
JP4628820B2 (en) 2005-02-25 2011-02-09 サンテック株式会社 Wavelength scanning fiber laser light source
US7530948B2 (en) 2005-02-28 2009-05-12 University Of Washington Tethered capsule endoscope for Barrett's Esophagus screening
DE102005010790A1 (en) 2005-03-09 2006-09-14 Basf Ag Photovoltaic cell with a photovoltaically active semiconductor material contained therein
US20060224053A1 (en) 2005-03-30 2006-10-05 Skyline Biomedical, Inc. Apparatus and method for non-invasive and minimally-invasive sensing of venous oxygen saturation and pH levels
KR20080013919A (en) 2005-04-22 2008-02-13 더 제너럴 하스피탈 코포레이션 Arrangements, systems and methods capable of providing spectral-domain polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography
US9599611B2 (en) * 2005-04-25 2017-03-21 Trustees Of Boston University Structured substrates for optical surface profiling
US20070009935A1 (en) 2005-05-13 2007-01-11 The General Hospital Corporation Arrangements, systems and methods capable of providing spectral-domain optical coherence reflectometry for a sensitive detection of chemical and biological sample
JP4709278B2 (en) 2005-05-23 2011-06-22 エフ. ヘスス ハラルド Optical microscopy using optically convertible optical labels
EP1887926B1 (en) 2005-05-31 2014-07-30 The General Hospital Corporation System and method which use spectral encoding heterodyne interferometry techniques for imaging
EP1889037A2 (en) 2005-06-01 2008-02-20 The General Hospital Corporation Apparatus, method and system for performing phase-resolved optical frequency domain imaging
WO2006131859A2 (en) 2005-06-07 2006-12-14 Philips Intellectual Property & Standards Gmbh Laser optical feedback tomography sensor and method
US7391520B2 (en) 2005-07-01 2008-06-24 Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc. Fourier domain optical coherence tomography employing a swept multi-wavelength laser and a multi-channel receiver
WO2007005913A2 (en) 2005-07-01 2007-01-11 Infotonics Technology Center, Inc. Non-invasive monitoring system
DE102005034443A1 (en) 2005-07-22 2007-02-22 Carl Zeiss Jena Gmbh Sample e.g. cell particle, luminescence microscopy method, involves prevailing one of sample regions for image of sample, so that image has local resolution which is enhanced in relation to excitation radiation distribution
US7292347B2 (en) 2005-08-01 2007-11-06 Mitutoyo Corporation Dual laser high precision interferometer
JP4376837B2 (en) 2005-08-05 2009-12-02 サンテック株式会社 Wavelength scanning laser light source
CN101238347B (en) * 2005-08-09 2011-05-25 通用医疗公司 Apparatus, methods and storage medium for performing polarization-based quadrature demodulation in optical coherence tomography
US7668342B2 (en) 2005-09-09 2010-02-23 Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc. Method of bioimage data processing for revealing more meaningful anatomic features of diseased tissues
WO2007030835A2 (en) 2005-09-10 2007-03-15 Baer Stephen C High resolution microscopy using an optically switchable fluorophore
JP4708937B2 (en) 2005-09-15 2011-06-22 Hoya株式会社 OCT observation instrument, fixing instrument, and OCT system
US8114581B2 (en) 2005-09-15 2012-02-14 The Regents Of The University Of California Methods and compositions for detecting neoplastic cells
KR100743591B1 (en) 2005-09-23 2007-07-27 한국과학기술원 Confocal Self-Interference Microscopy Which Excluding Side Lobes
CN101304683B (en) 2005-09-29 2012-12-12 通用医疗公司 Method and apparatus for method for viewing and analyzing of one or more biological samples with progressively increasing resolutions
US7450241B2 (en) 2005-09-30 2008-11-11 Infraredx, Inc. Detecting vulnerable plaque
US7400410B2 (en) * 2005-10-05 2008-07-15 Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc. Optical coherence tomography for eye-length measurement
WO2007044612A2 (en) 2005-10-07 2007-04-19 Bioptigen, Inc. Imaging systems using unpolarized light and related methods and controllers
WO2007044786A2 (en) 2005-10-11 2007-04-19 Zygo Corporation Interferometry method and system including spectral decomposition
US7595889B2 (en) 2005-10-11 2009-09-29 Duke University Systems and methods for endoscopic angle-resolved low coherence interferometry
US7408649B2 (en) 2005-10-26 2008-08-05 Kla-Tencor Technologies Corporation Method and apparatus for optically analyzing a surface
US8145018B2 (en) 2006-01-19 2012-03-27 The General Hospital Corporation Apparatus for obtaining information for a structure using spectrally-encoded endoscopy techniques and methods for producing one or more optical arrangements
US20070223006A1 (en) 2006-01-19 2007-09-27 The General Hospital Corporation Systems and methods for performing rapid fluorescence lifetime, excitation and emission spectral measurements
US9087368B2 (en) 2006-01-19 2015-07-21 The General Hospital Corporation Methods and systems for optical imaging or epithelial luminal organs by beam scanning thereof
GB0601183D0 (en) 2006-01-20 2006-03-01 Perkinelmer Ltd Improvements in and relating to imaging
WO2007090147A2 (en) 2006-01-31 2007-08-09 The Board Of Trustees Of The University Of Illinois Method and apparatus for measurement of optical properties in tissue
JP5519152B2 (en) 2006-02-08 2014-06-11 ザ ジェネラル ホスピタル コーポレイション Device for acquiring information about anatomical samples using optical microscopy
US8184367B2 (en) 2006-02-15 2012-05-22 University Of Central Florida Research Foundation Dynamically focused optical instrument
DE102006008990B4 (en) 2006-02-23 2008-05-21 Atmos Medizintechnik Gmbh & Co. Kg Method and arrangement for generating a signal corresponding to the opening state of the vocal folds of the larynx
JP2007271761A (en) 2006-03-30 2007-10-18 Fujitsu Ltd Spectrometer and wavelength dispersion controller
EP2004041B1 (en) 2006-04-05 2013-11-06 The General Hospital Corporation Methods, arrangements and systems for polarization-sensitive optical frequency domain imaging of a sample
US20070253901A1 (en) 2006-04-27 2007-11-01 David Deng Atherosclerosis genes and related reagents and methods of use thereof
WO2007127395A2 (en) 2006-04-28 2007-11-08 Bioptigen, Inc. Methods, systems and computer program products for optical coherence tomography (oct) using automatic dispersion compensation
WO2007133964A2 (en) 2006-05-12 2007-11-22 The General Hospital Corporation Processes, arrangements and systems for providing a fiber layer thickness map based on optical coherence tomography images
EP1859727A1 (en) 2006-05-26 2007-11-28 Stichting voor de Technische Wetenschappen optical triggering system for stroboscopy and a stroboscopic system
US7599074B2 (en) * 2006-06-19 2009-10-06 The Board Of Trustees Of The Leland Stanford Junior University Grating angle magnification enhanced angular sensor and scanner
US20070291277A1 (en) 2006-06-20 2007-12-20 Everett Matthew J Spectral domain optical coherence tomography system
WO2008027927A2 (en) * 2006-08-28 2008-03-06 Thermo Electron Scientific Instruments Llc Spectroscopic microscopy with image -driven analysis
US8838213B2 (en) 2006-10-19 2014-09-16 The General Hospital Corporation Apparatus and method for obtaining and providing imaging information associated with at least one portion of a sample, and effecting such portion(s)
US20080138011A1 (en) 2006-10-26 2008-06-12 Furukawa Electric North America, Inc. Production of optical pulses at a desired wavelength utilizing higher-order-mode (HOM) fiber
JP2010508056A (en) 2006-10-30 2010-03-18 エルフィ−テック リミテッド System and method for in vivo measurement of biological parameters
DE102006054556A1 (en) 2006-11-20 2008-05-21 Zimmer Medizinsysteme Gmbh Apparatus and method for non-invasive, optical detection of chemical and physical blood values and body constituents
US20080204762A1 (en) 2007-01-17 2008-08-28 Duke University Methods, systems, and computer program products for removing undesired artifacts in fourier domain optical coherence tomography (FDOCT) systems using integrating buckets
US7911621B2 (en) 2007-01-19 2011-03-22 The General Hospital Corporation Apparatus and method for controlling ranging depth in optical frequency domain imaging
JP5227525B2 (en) 2007-03-23 2013-07-03 株式会社日立製作所 Biological light measurement device
US8222385B2 (en) 2007-03-26 2012-07-17 National University Corporation Tokyo University of Marine Science Technology Germ cell marker using fish vasa gene
US8244334B2 (en) 2007-04-10 2012-08-14 University Of Southern California Methods and systems for blood flow measurement using doppler optical coherence tomography
US8115919B2 (en) 2007-05-04 2012-02-14 The General Hospital Corporation Methods, arrangements and systems for obtaining information associated with a sample using optical microscopy
US7799558B1 (en) 2007-05-22 2010-09-21 Dultz Shane C Ligand binding assays on microarrays in closed multiwell plates
US8166967B2 (en) 2007-08-15 2012-05-01 Chunyuan Qiu Systems and methods for intubation
US20090219544A1 (en) 2007-09-05 2009-09-03 The General Hospital Corporation Systems, methods and computer-accessible medium for providing spectral-domain optical coherence phase microscopy for cell and deep tissue imaging
JP2011500173A (en) 2007-10-12 2011-01-06 ザ ジェネラル ホスピタル コーポレイション System and process for optical imaging of luminal anatomical structures
US9332942B2 (en) 2008-01-28 2016-05-10 The General Hospital Corporation Systems, processes and computer-accessible medium for providing hybrid flourescence and optical coherence tomography imaging
JP5192247B2 (en) 2008-01-29 2013-05-08 並木精密宝石株式会社 OCT probe
US7898656B2 (en) 2008-04-30 2011-03-01 The General Hospital Corporation Apparatus and method for cross axis parallel spectroscopy
US8184298B2 (en) 2008-05-21 2012-05-22 The Board Of Trustees Of The University Of Illinois Spatial light interference microscopy and fourier transform light scattering for cell and tissue characterization
JP5324839B2 (en) 2008-06-19 2013-10-23 株式会社トプコン Optical image measuring device
JP5546112B2 (en) 2008-07-07 2014-07-09 キヤノン株式会社 Ophthalmic imaging apparatus and ophthalmic imaging method
US8133127B1 (en) 2008-07-21 2012-03-13 Synder Terrance W Sports training device and methods of use
US20110160681A1 (en) 2008-12-04 2011-06-30 Searete Llc, A Limited Liability Corporation Of The State Of Delaware Systems, devices, and methods including catheters having light removable coatings based on a sensed condition
US8457715B2 (en) 2009-04-08 2013-06-04 Covidien Lp System and method for determining placement of a tracheal tube
US9089331B2 (en) 2009-07-31 2015-07-28 Case Western Reserve University Characterizing ablation lesions using optical coherence tomography (OCT)
US20120228523A1 (en) 2009-11-09 2012-09-13 Tata Institute Of Fundamental Research Biological laser plasma x-ray point source
KR101522850B1 (en) 2010-01-14 2015-05-26 삼성전자주식회사 Method and apparatus for encoding/decoding motion vector
HUE052561T2 (en) 2010-03-05 2021-05-28 Massachusetts Gen Hospital Apparatus for providing electro-magnetic radiation to a sample
CN207083138U (en) 2016-10-21 2018-03-09 东莞领丰电子有限公司 A kind of mobile phone shell component

Patent Citations (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6160826A (en) * 1991-04-29 2000-12-12 Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Method and apparatus for performing optical frequency domain reflectometry
US5491524A (en) * 1994-10-05 1996-02-13 Carl Zeiss, Inc. Optical coherence tomography corneal mapping apparatus
US5975697A (en) * 1998-11-25 1999-11-02 Oti Ophthalmic Technologies, Inc. Optical mapping apparatus with adjustable depth resolution
WO2001082786A2 (en) * 2000-05-03 2001-11-08 Flock Stephen T Optical imaging of subsurface anatomical structures and biomolecules
WO2002037075A2 (en) * 2000-10-31 2002-05-10 Forskningscenter Risø Optical amplification in coherent optical frequency modulated continuous wave reflectometry
US20030227631A1 (en) * 2002-04-05 2003-12-11 Rollins Andrew M. Phase-referenced doppler optical coherence tomography
EP1677095A1 (en) * 2003-09-26 2006-07-05 The Kitasato Gakuen Foundation Variable-wavelength light generator and light interference tomograph
WO2006038876A1 (en) * 2004-10-08 2006-04-13 Trajan Badju A method and a system for generating three- or two-dimensional images
US20060093276A1 (en) * 2004-11-02 2006-05-04 The General Hospital Corporation Fiber-optic rotational device, optical system and method for imaging a sample
WO2006078802A1 (en) * 2005-01-21 2006-07-27 Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Methods and apparatus for optical coherence tomography scanning

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
See also references of EP2015669A2 *

Cited By (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2010072394A1 (en) * 2008-12-23 2010-07-01 Carl Zeiss Meditec Ag Device for swept-source optical coherence domain reflectometry
US8690330B2 (en) 2008-12-23 2014-04-08 Carl Zeiss Meditec Ag Device for swept-source optical coherence domain reflectometry
US9044164B2 (en) 2008-12-23 2015-06-02 Carl Zeiss Meditec Ag Device for swept source optical coherence domain reflectometry
EP2367469B1 (en) 2008-12-23 2017-10-25 Carl Zeiss Meditec AG Device and method for swept-source optical coherence domain reflectometry
EP3308694A1 (en) * 2008-12-23 2018-04-18 Carl Zeiss Meditec AG Device for swept source optical coherence domain reflectometry
EP4166066A1 (en) * 2008-12-23 2023-04-19 Carl Zeiss Meditec AG Device for swept source optical coherence domain reflectometry
JP2012515350A (en) * 2009-01-17 2012-07-05 ルナ イノベーションズ インコーポレイテッド Optical imaging for optical device inspection
WO2010150483A3 (en) * 2009-06-25 2011-08-18 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Image pickup apparatus and image pickup method using optical coherence tomography
US9429414B2 (en) 2009-06-25 2016-08-30 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Image pickup apparatus and image pickup method using optical coherence tomography
WO2014004835A1 (en) * 2012-06-29 2014-01-03 The General Hospital Corporation System, method and computer-accessible medium for providing and/or utilizing optical coherence tomographic vibrography

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP3150110B1 (en) 2020-09-02
JP5587955B2 (en) 2014-09-10
US20160367132A1 (en) 2016-12-22
US10413175B2 (en) 2019-09-17
WO2007133961A3 (en) 2008-01-31
EP2015669A2 (en) 2009-01-21
EP2517616A2 (en) 2012-10-31
JP2009536740A (en) 2009-10-15
EP3150110A1 (en) 2017-04-05
JP5587956B2 (en) 2014-09-10
US9364143B2 (en) 2016-06-14
US20120316434A1 (en) 2012-12-13
JP2013011625A (en) 2013-01-17
US8175685B2 (en) 2012-05-08
EP2517616A3 (en) 2013-03-06
US20070276269A1 (en) 2007-11-29
JP2013010012A (en) 2013-01-17

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US10413175B2 (en) Process, arrangements and systems for providing frequency domain imaging of a sample
EP1754016B1 (en) Process, system and software arrangement for a chromatic dispersion compensation using reflective layers in optical coherence tomography (oct) imaging
US7564565B2 (en) Wavelength-tunable light generator and optical coherence tomography device
Drexler et al. State-of-the-art retinal optical coherence tomography
Wojtkowski High-speed optical coherence tomography: basics and applications
JP4654357B2 (en) Optical interference tomography light generator for biological tissue measurement and optical interference tomography device for biological tissue measurement
JP5679686B2 (en) Optical coherence tomography system
US9267783B1 (en) Split integration mode acquisition for optimized OCT imaging at multiple speeds
RU2328208C1 (en) Laser confocal two-wave retinotomograph with frequancy deviation
JP2008151734A (en) Method, device, program, and system for optical tomography
JP2008128707A (en) Tomographic image processing method, device and program, and optical tomographic imaging system using it
Han et al. Investigation of gold-coated bare fiber probe for in situ intra-vitreous coherence domain optical imaging and sensing
Serebryakov et al. Optical coherence tomography angiography in the diagnosis of ophthalmologic diseases: problems and prospects
Marschall et al. Frequency-swept Light Sources for Optical Coherence Tomography in the 1060 nm range
KENDRISIC et al. Thermally-tuned VCSEL at 850 nm as a low-cost source alternative for full eye SS-OCT
US20190298167A1 (en) Ophthalmic Photothermal Optical Coherence Tomography Apparatus
Yun Optical coherence tomography using rapidly swept lasers
Cucu et al. Combined confocal/en face optical coherence tomography imaging of the human eye fundus in vivo in the 1050 nm spectral region
Carrion et al. Comparison of optical coherence tomography profiles for three different wavelengths in the near infrared
Choi Measurement of retinal vascular permeability in a rat model using spectroscopic optical coherence tomography
Meemon et al. Full-range spectral domain Doppler optical coherence tomography
Potsaid et al. Ultrahigh speed spectral/Fourier domain ophthalmic OCT imaging
Gorczynska et al. Blood flow measurement and slow flow detection in retinal vessels with joint spectral and time domain method in ultrahigh-speed OCT
Lee Optical frequency domain imaging of human retina and choroid
Meadway et al. Adaptive optics assisted Fourier domain OCT with balanced detection

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
WWE Wipo information: entry into national phase

Ref document number: 2009510092

Country of ref document: JP

NENP Non-entry into the national phase

Ref country code: DE

REEP Request for entry into the european phase

Ref document number: 2007761877

Country of ref document: EP

WWE Wipo information: entry into national phase

Ref document number: 2007761877

Country of ref document: EP