Open AccessExtended depth of focus for coherence-based cellular imaging
Author(s) -
Biwei Yin,
Chulho Hyun,
Joseph A. Gardecki,
Guillermo J. Tearney
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
optica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.074
H-Index - 107
ISSN - 2334-2536
DOI - 10.1364/optica.4.000959
Subject(s) - optical coherence tomography , optics , focus (optics) , multi mode optical fiber , depth of focus (tectonics) , coherence (philosophical gambling strategy) , interferometry , image resolution , optical fiber , physics , computer science , materials science , geology , paleontology , subduction , quantum mechanics , tectonics
Improving lateral resolution for cross-sectional optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging is difficult due to the rapid divergence of light once it is focused to a small spot. To overcome this obstacle, we introduce a fiber optics system that generates a coaxially focused multimode (CAFM) beam for depth of focus (DOF) extension. We fabricated a CAFM beam OCT probe and show that the DOF is more than fivefold that of a conventional Gaussian beam, enabling cross-sectional imaging of biological tissues with clearly resolved cellular and subcellular structures over more than a 400 μm depth range. The compact and straightforward design and high-resolution extended DOF imaging capabilities of this technique suggests that it will be very useful for endoscopic cross-sectional imaging of human internal organs in vivo .