title: High-speed retinal imaging with polarization-sensitive OCT at 1040 nm.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To demonstrate the ability of a new high-speed polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) system for retinal imaging at 1040 nm.
  
  
  METHODS
  A new polarization-sensitive swept source OCT system in the 1 μm wavelength range is used to image the retina of healthy volunteers. The instrument is operated at an A-scan rate of 100 kHz which is about three times faster than previously reported PS-OCT instruments in this wavelength region. The increased imaging speed can be used to record densely sampled volumes of the retina. Moreover, it enables averaging of several B-scans recorded at the same location to obtain high-definition B-scans without the use of an eye tracker.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Polarization-sensitive images of healthy volunteers clearly show the retinal pigment epithelium as a depolarizing layer. In addition, the good tissue penetration of the system allows the visualization of the sclera, which is highly birefringent and therefore shows increased image contrast with PS-OCT.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PS-OCT in the 1 μm wavelength region shows similar polarization effects as in the 840 nm wavelength range. The high speed enables averaging of several B-scans to obtain high-definition polarization-sensitive images. The new system provides excellent penetration depth into the choroid and sclera.
authors.affiliation: Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Torzicky
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pircher
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zotter
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bonesi
authors.forename: Erich
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Götzinger
authors.forename: Christoph K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Hitzenberger
mesh_terms: D001718:Birefringence; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055213:Retinal Pigment Epithelium / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000295:instrumentation*