title: Advances in broad bandwidth light sources for ultrahigh resolution optical coherence tomography.
abstract: Novel ultra-broad bandwidth light sources enabling unprecedented sub-2 microm axial resolution over the 400 nm-1700 nm wavelength range have been developed and evaluated with respect to their feasibility for clinical ultrahigh resolution optical coherence tomography (UHR OCT) applications. The state-of-the-art light sources described here include a compact Kerr lens mode locked Ti:sapphire laser (lambdaC = 785 nm, delta lambda = 260 nm, P(out) = 50 mW) and different nonlinear fibre-based light sources with spectral bandwidths (at full width at half maximum) up to 350 nm at lambdaC = 1130 nm and 470 nm at lambdaC = 1375 nm. In vitro UHR OCT imaging is demonstrated at multiple wavelengths in human cancer cells, animal ganglion cells as well as in neuropathologic and ophthalmic biopsies in order to compare and optimize UHR OCT image contrast, resolution and penetration depth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Physics, Medical University of Vienna and Christian Doppler Laboratory, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Unterhuber
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Povazay
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bizheva
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hermann
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sattmann
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stingl
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Le
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Seefeld
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Menzel
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Preusser
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Budka
authors.forename: Ch
authors.initials: Ch
authors.lastname: Schubert
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Reitsamer
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Ahnelt
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cowey
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Drexler
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D004867:Equipment Design; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005336:Fiber Optic Technology / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D005728:Ganglia, Sympathetic / Q000166:cytology*; D019073:HT29 Cells; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D007834:Lasers; D008027:Light; D008252:Macaca fascicularis; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D051381:Rats; D012160:Retina / Q000166:cytology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends