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Determination of spatial correlation functions of refractive index of living tissue
Author(s) -
GAO WANRONG
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of microscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.569
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2818
pISSN - 0022-2720
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2818.2011.03542.x
Subject(s) - refractive index , fourier transform , optics , optical coherence tomography , fourier domain , spectral density , correlation function (quantum field theory) , correlation , coherence (philosophical gambling strategy) , spatial frequency , spatial correlation , fourier analysis , physics , mathematics , statistics , geometry , quantum mechanics
Summary We present what to our knowledge the first method of determination of spatial correlation functions of refractive index fluctuations of living tissues by Fourier domain optical coherence tomography (FDOCT). Based on the second‐order statistical description of the random characteristic of living tissue, a formula which clearly relates the spectral electrical power from the detector to the Fourier spectrum of the refractive index correlation function is given. The method is characterized by its capability of noninvasive measurements in vivo . It has the potential of allowing quantitative discrimination between different tissue types or the same tissue at different pathological states by determining their Fourier components of spatial correlation functions of refractive index.