Ultrahigh resolution optical coherence tomography

Abstract

Since its invention in the late 1980s [1–4] and early 1990s [5–7], the original idea of OCT was to enable noninvasive optical biopsy, i.e., the in situ imaging of tissue microstructure with a resolution approaching that of histology, but without the need for tissue excision and post-processing. An important advance toward this goal was the introduction of ultrahigh-resolution OCT (UHR OCT). By improving axial OCT resolution by one order of magnitude from the 10 to 15 μm to the sub-μm region [8–11], UHR OCT enables superior visualization of tissue microstructure, including all major intraretinal layers in ophthalmic applications as well as cellular resolution OCT imaging in nontransparent tissue. This chapter reviews state-of-the-art technology that enables ultrahigh-resolution OCT covering the entire wavelength region from 500 to 1,600 nm and discusses fundamental limitations of OCT image resolution.