title: Pulsed illumination spectral-domain optical coherence tomography for human retinal imaging.
abstract: We present pulsed illumination spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) for in vivo human retinal imaging. We analyze the signal-to-noise (SNR) for continuous wave (CW) and pulsed illumination SD-OCT. The lateral beam scan motion is responsible for a SNR drop due to lateral scanning induced interference fringe washout. Pulsed illumination can reduce the SNR drop by shorter sample illumination time during the integration time of a camera. First, we demonstrate the SNR benefit of pulsed illumination over CW as function of lateral scan speed for a paper sample. Finally, we show better SNR in retinal images of a normal subject with pulsed illumination SD-OCT over CW at high lateral scanning speed.
authors.forename: Jang-Woo
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: You
authors.forename: Teresa C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Mircea
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mujat
authors.forename: B Hyle
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Johannes F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: de Boer