Real-time, ultrahigh-resolution, optical coherence tomography with an all-fiber, femtosecond fiber laser continuum at 1.5 microm.
Real-time, ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography (OCT) is demonstrated in the 1.4-1.7-microm wavelength region with a stretched-pulse, passively mode-locked, Er-doped fiber laser and highly nonlinear fiber. The fiber laser generates 100-mW, linearly chirped pulses at a 51-MHz repetition rate. The pulses are compressed and then coupled into a normally dispersive highly nonlinear fiber to generate a low-noise supercontinuum with a 180-nm FWHM bandwidth and 38 mW of output power. This light source is stable, compact, and broadband, permitting high-speed, real-time, high-resolution OCT imaging. In vivo high-speed OCT imaging of human skin with approximately 5.5-microm resolution and 99-dB sensitivity is demonstrated.
Nishizawa
N
N
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA. nisizawa@mit.edu
Chen
Y
Y
Hsiung
P
P
Ippen
E P
EP
Fujimoto
J G
JG
D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005336:Fiber Optic Technology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D009862:Online Systems; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012867:Skin / Q000166:cytology*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods