title: Smart optical coherence tomography for ultra-deep imaging through highly scattering media.
abstract: Multiple scattering of waves in disordered media is a nightmare whether it is for detection or imaging purposes. So far, the best approach to get rid of multiple scattering is optical coherence tomography. This basically combines confocal microscopy and coherence time gating to discriminate ballistic photons from a predominant multiple scattering background. Nevertheless, the imaging-depth range remains limited to 1 mm at best in human soft tissues because of aberrations and multiple scattering. We propose a matrix approach of optical imaging to push back this fundamental limit. By combining a matrix discrimination of ballistic waves and iterative time reversal, we show, both theoretically and experimentally, an extension of the imaging-depth limit by at least a factor of 2 compared to optical coherence tomography. In particular, the reported experiment demonstrates imaging through a strongly scattering layer from which only 1 reflected photon out of 1000 billion is ballistic. This approach opens a new route toward ultra-deep tissue imaging.
authors.affiliation: ESPCI (École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles) Paris, PSL Research University (Paris Sciences et Lettres) Research University, CNRS, Institut Langevin, UMR 7587, 1 Rue Jussieu, F-75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Amaury
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1963-0075
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Badon
authors.affiliation: ESPCI (École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles) Paris, PSL Research University (Paris Sciences et Lettres) Research University, CNRS, Institut Langevin, UMR 7587, 1 Rue Jussieu, F-75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Dayan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: ESPCI (École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles) Paris, PSL Research University (Paris Sciences et Lettres) Research University, CNRS, Institut Langevin, UMR 7587, 1 Rue Jussieu, F-75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Geoffroy
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7087-5377
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lerosey
authors.affiliation: ESPCI (École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles) Paris, PSL Research University (Paris Sciences et Lettres) Research University, CNRS, Institut Langevin, UMR 7587, 1 Rue Jussieu, F-75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: A Claude
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Boccara
authors.affiliation: ESPCI (École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles) Paris, PSL Research University (Paris Sciences et Lettres) Research University, CNRS, Institut Langevin, UMR 7587, 1 Rue Jussieu, F-75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fink
authors.affiliation: ESPCI (École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles) Paris, PSL Research University (Paris Sciences et Lettres) Research University, CNRS, Institut Langevin, UMR 7587, 1 Rue Jussieu, F-75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aubry
mesh_terms: D008962:Models, Theoretical; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence
keywords: Optical imaging; confocal microscopy; matrix approach of light propagation; multiple scattering; optical coherence tomography; turbid media; wave-front control