title: Structural and functional human retinal imaging with a fiber-based visible light OCT ophthalmoscope.
abstract: The design of a multi-functional fiber-based Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) system for human retinal imaging with < 2 micron axial resolution in tissue is described. A detailed noise characterization of two supercontinuum light sources with different pulse repetition rates is presented. The higher repetition rate and lower noise source is found to enable a sensitivity of 96 dB with 0.15 mW light power at the cornea and a 98 microsecond exposure time. Using a broadband (560 ± 50 nm), 90/10, fused single-mode fiber coupler designed for visible wavelengths, the sample arm is integrated into an ophthalmoscope platform, similar to current clinical OCT systems. To demonstrate the instrument's range of operation,in vivostructural retinal imaging is also shown at 0.15 mW exposure with 10,000 and 70,000 axial scans per second (the latter comparable to commercial OCT systems), and at 0.03 mW exposure and 10,000 axial scans per second (below maximum permissible continuous exposure levels). Lastly,in vivospectroscopic imaging of anatomy, saturation, and hemoglobin content in the human retina is also demonstrated.
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Engineering Department, University of California Davis, Davis, California 95616, USA.
authors.forename: Shau Poh
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Chong
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Engineering Department, University of California Davis, Davis, California 95616, USA.
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bernucci
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Engineering Department, University of California Davis, Davis, California 95616, USA.
authors.forename: Harsha
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Radhakrishnan
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Engineering Department, University of California Davis, Davis, California 95616, USA; Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science, University of California Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, California 95817, USA.
authors.forename: Vivek J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Srinivasan
keywords: (060.2350) Fiber optics imaging; (140.7300) Visible lasers; (170.3880) Medical and biological imaging; (170.4500) Optical coherence tomography; (170.6480) Spectroscopy, speckle