title: Compact, low-cost Ti:Al2O3 laser for in vivo ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography.
abstract: A compact, low-cost, prismless Ti:Al2O3 laser with 176-nm bandwidth (FWHM) and 20-mW output power was developed. Ultrahigh-resolution ophthalmic optical coherence tomography (OCT) ex vivo imaging in an animal model with approximately 1.2-microm axial resolution and in vivo imaging in patients with macular pathologies with approximately 3-microm axial resolution were demonstrated. Owing to the pump laser, this light source significantly reduces the cost of broadband OCT systems. Furthermore, the source has great potential for clinical application of spectroscopic and ultrahigh-resolution OCT because of its small footprint (500 mm x 180 mm including the pump laser), user friendliness, stability, and reproducibility.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Physics, Christian Doppler Laboratory, University of Vienna, Vienna A-1090, Austria.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Unterhuber
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Povazay
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hermann
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sattmann
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Drexler
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Yakovlev
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tempea
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schubert
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Anger
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Ahnelt
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stur
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cowey
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Le
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stingl
mesh_terms: D000537:Aluminum Oxide; D000818:Animals; D004867:Equipment Design; D007834:Lasers; D055095:Optics and Photonics; D014025:Titanium; D014054:Tomography
chemical_list: D014025:Titanium; D000537:Aluminum Oxide