A Ce(3+):YAG double-clad crystal fiber (DCF) visible emission was used as the light source for optical coherence tomography (OCT). The visible emission was produced from a 10 microm core DCF pumped by a diode laser. The broadband emission and short central wavelength of this light source enabled the realization of 1.5 microm axial resolution in air. The relatively clean spectrum reduced the side lobe of its point-spread function, and therefore facilitated the generation of a high-quality image with less crosstalk between adjacent image pixels. As a demonstration, an Aplocheilus lineatus goldfish was experimented on to map out the stroma of its cornea. This visible-light-based OCT can be utilized for industrial inspection as well as ocular applications.

Ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography (UR-OCT) has been used for the first time to our knowledge to study single-cell basal cell carcinoma (BCC) in vitro. This noninvasive, in situ, label-free technique with deep imaging depth enables three-dimensional analysis of scattering properties of single cells with cellular spatial resolution. From three-dimensional UR-OCT imaging, live and dead BCC cells can be easily identified based on morphological observation. We developed a novel method to automatically extract characteristic parameters of a single cell from data volume, and quantitative comparison and parametric analysis were performed. The results demonstrate the capability of UR-OCT to detect cell death at the cellular level.

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