[OPTICAL REVIEW Vol. 9, No. 2 (2002) 70-74]
Non-Scanning Optical Coherence Tomography Using Off-Axis Interferometry with an Angular-Dispersion Imaging Scheme
Eriko UMETSU, Kin Pui CHAN* and Naohiro TANNO
Graduate Program of Human Sensing and Functional Sensor Engineering, Yamagata University, 4-3-16 Jonan, Yonezawa, Yamagata 992-8510, Japan, Regional Joint Research Project of Yamagata Prefecture, Japan Science and Technology Corporation, 2-2-1 Matsuei, Yamagata, Yamagata 990-2473, Japan
(Received December 3, 2001; Accepted January 29, 2002)
We present a non-scanning approach for real-time optical coherence tomography (OCT). Our approach is based on an off-axis interferometer that laterally projects the time-of-flight or depth information of the sample onto an image sensor. To facilitate the use of an off-axis interferometer in OCT, an angular-dispersion imaging method has been developed. Theoretical analysis and experimental results are presented to demonstrate that this method is capable of demodulating the interferogram and thus permits a direct inspection of the depth-resolved image. Depth resolution and detection range of the present method are also studied.
Key words: Biomedical imaging, optical coherence tomography, interferometric imaging, angular dispersion