NOVEL METHOD FOR OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY AND MULTIPLEXED SENSING

光学相干断层扫描和多重传感的新方法

基本信息

批准号：
EP/H004963/1
负责人：
Adrian Podoleanu
金额：
$ 50.22万
依托单位：
University of Kent
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2009
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2009 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FH004963%2F1
关键词：
NOVEL METHOD OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY

项目摘要

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) allows high depth resolution imaging and has received considerable interest in the last 5 years, which resulted in a 100 times increase in the speed of operation and extension to a large variety of imaging problems. There are two main types of OCT: time domain (TD) and spectral domain (SD). The recent progress in speed has been achieved by developers working in the SD-OCT field. However, SD-OCT has several disadvantages, non present in TD-OCT. The research in SD-OCT has also stimulated the development of novel fast tunable lasers, the so called swept sources (SS). Tremendous effort has been put in understanding and controlling the phenomena in closed optical loops containing optical amplifiers for optical sources to be used in SS-OCT. The present proposal puts forward a novel type of OCT and a novel class of optical interferometers. This is driven by the needs to address the limitations in terms of speed of the TD-OCT method, by the potential of the en-face OCT, not investigated so far, in producing 3D OCT exploration and by the limitations in terms of range and dynamic focus of the SD-OCT methods as well as dispersion compensation of all OCT methods. The novel method and devices proposed are inspired by the progress in swept sources and SS-OCT. A new class of OCT systems is researched, as a marriage between the TD-OCT and SD-OCT methods. The new OCT method eliminates or ameliorate the disadvantages of the SD-OCT method. The novel method presents the generality of being compatible with both TD-OCT and SD-OCT. The applicant has demonstrated the principle of operation which guarantees the success of research. However, the marriage between the SD-OCT and TD-OCT to be researched here promises much more than what the demonstrator set-up has shown so far, therefore research support is sought to explore the multiple avenues of the novel method. This may revolutionise the field of OCT and open applications not currently possible with the present OCT technology, such as SD-OCT of objects extended in depth by more than 1 cm (eye), or en-face imaging of moving organs or tissue (of the whole retina volume in fractions of a second, with better sampling in all directions than achievable with the most advanced SD-OCT set-up). The method to be researched will allow combination of scanning regimes and modes of operation to achieve versatile functionality in measurements, in the 3D imaging of moving tissue such as the eye, heart, or moving embryos or functional/low noise imaging by making use of angular compounding or polarisation. Novel directions are opened in the instantaneous elimination of the movement effects of the tissue when determining the liquid (blood) flow profile in a vessel, in tracking the axial position of objects (cornea or retina), automatic dispersion compensation as well as improvement in the synchronism between the coherence gate and the focus in axial scanning (a problem for both types of SD-OCT methods). The method proposed is also applicable in multiplexing of sensors. Simultaneous measurements over multiple path lengths become feasible. Three proof of concept demonstrators will be assembled, for multiple imaging at different depths using en-face TD-OCT, fast and long range tracking and swept source systems for long axial scanning.

光学相干断层扫描 (OCT) 允许进行高深度分辨率成像，并且在过去 5 年中引起了相当大的兴趣，导致操作速度提高了 100 倍，并扩展到多种成像问题。 OCT 主要有两种类型：时域 (TD) 和谱域 (SD)。最近速度上的进步是由 SD-OCT 领域的开发人员取得的。然而，SD-OCT 有一些 TD-OCT 所不存在的缺点。 SD-OCT 的研究还刺激了新型快速可调谐激光器（即所谓的扫频源 (SS)）的发展。为了理解和控制包含用于 SS-OCT 光源的光放大器的闭合光环中的现象，人们付出了巨大的努力。本提案提出了一种新型 OCT 和一类新型光学干涉仪。这是由于需要解决 TD-OCT 方法速度方面的限制、目前尚未研究的正面 OCT 在进行 3D OCT 探索方面的潜力以及范围和范围方面的限制。 SD-OCT 方法的动态聚焦以及所有 OCT 方法的色散补偿。所提出的新颖方法和设备受到扫频源和 SS-OCT 进展的启发。研究了一种新型 OCT 系统，它是 TD-OCT 和 SD-OCT 方法的结合。新的OCT方法消除或改善了SD-OCT方法的缺点。该新方法具有与 TD-OCT 和 SD-OCT 兼容的通用性。申请人展示了保证研究成功的操作原理。然而，这里要研究的 SD-OCT 和 TD-OCT 之间的结合所带来的前景远远超过演示装置迄今为止所显示的内容，因此寻求研究支持来探索这种新颖方法的多种途径。这可能会彻底改变 OCT 领域，并开放现有 OCT 技术目前无法实现的应用，例如深度扩展超过 1 厘米的物体（眼睛）的 SD-OCT，或移动器官或组织（的）的正面成像。在几分之一秒内完成整个视网膜体积，与最先进的 SD-OCT 装置相比，在各个方向上的采样效果更好）。待研究的方法将允许扫描方式和操作模式的组合，以实现测量中的多功能功能，在移动组织（例如眼睛、心脏或移动胚胎）的 3D 成像中或通过利用角度进行功能/低噪声成像复合或极化。在确定血管中的液体（血液）流动剖面时瞬时消除组织的运动影响、跟踪物体（角膜或视网膜）的轴向位置、自动色散补偿以及改进轴向扫描中相干门和焦点之间的同步（这两种类型的 SD-OCT 方法都存在问题）。所提出的方法也适用于传感器的复用。在多个路径长度上同时测量变得可行。将组装三个概念验证演示器，使用正面 TD-OCT、快速远程跟踪和用于长轴向扫描的扫频源系统在不同深度进行多重成像。