High-definition optical coherence tomography underneath tissue surface

Abstract

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a very promising technique for clinical diagnosis because high-resolution tomography is easily obtained by a compact imaging optics. The existing OCT, however, should be improved toward high-definition OCT which is comparable to a histology (or a microscopic photograph of tissue). In this paper, we summarized our recent effort to approach to high-definition OCT. In in-vitro tomographic imaging of the human stomach wall, in-focus OCT could provide a very clear image of the muscularis mucosae of a few tens of microns thickness. Furthermore, we demonstrated high-definition OCT of micro tissue structures including epidermis, dermis and stratum basale using a femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser.