Waskito NUGROHO, M. S. HREBESH¹, and Manabu SATO^*

Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Yamagata University, Yonezawa, Yamagata 992-8510, Japan
¹School of Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, 3303 SW Bond Avenue, Portland, OR 97239, U.S.A.

(Received September 22, 2010; Accepted May 20, 2011)

For the single-shot full-field optical coherence tomography (OCT) using spatially phase-modulated reference light, the basic characteristics have been simulated. At low spatial frequencies, the OCT signal intensity is enhanced twofold owing to subtractions, and with increasing the spatial frequency, the OCT signal intensity decreases 0.636 times at half the Nyquist frequency. OCT signal intensities also depend on orientations in images. Residual noninterference components of signal intensities between adjacent uniform areas increase background noise and reduce the system sensitivity. In the reference light, the optimum phase difference between adjacent uniform areas is 180 deg. Deviations from 180 deg reduce subtracted interference components. It is important that interference intensity, noninterference components and phases between adjacent uniform areas be approximately the same to obtain the OCT image with the reduction of background noise stably.

Key words: optical coherence tomography, full field, single shot, spatially phase-modulated reference light, simulation, spatial frequency, background noise

^*E-mail address: msato@yz.yamagata-u.ac.jp