Ultrahigh-resolution and 3-dimensional optical coherence tomography ex vivo imaging of the large and small intestines

A combined multiple-SLED broadband light source at 1300nm for high resolution optical coherence tomography

“…Compared with typical single SLED light sources, the combined SLEDs improves the axial resolution by half and is comparable to the demonstrated resolution of broadband light sources generated by SCG [3][4][5]7]. However, the combined SLED light source is more compact, inexpensive, reliable and portable.…”

“…High resolution OCT with an axial resolution less than 5 μm in tissue at 1300 nm has been demonstrated using different method [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. OCT images with higher axial resolution clearly show improved image quality due to smaller speckle size and the ability to display finer structures with higher contrast, which can possibly improve diagnosis in the clinic [5].…”

“…OCT images with higher axial resolution clearly show improved image quality due to smaller speckle size and the ability to display finer structures with higher contrast, which can possibly improve diagnosis in the clinic [5]. Normally broadband light sources for OCT imaging at 1300 nm are generated by pumping a fiber with either a femotosecond laser or a high power continuous wave (CW) laser [2,4,8].…”

Ex vivo imaging of human pathologies with integrated optical coherence tomography (OCT) and optical coherence microscopy (OCM)

“…The output from the laser was spited equally into the OCT and OCM subunits. The OCT subunit was similar to the system used in a previous in vitro imaging study 13 . Fourteen microns transverse resolution and less than 4 μm axial resolution, which corresponds to optical image slices thinner than traditional histologic sections, was obtained in tissue.…”

“…Integrated 3D-OCT and OCM has the additional advantage of enabling investigation of tissue structure at the architectural and cellular scale: the three dimensional OCT data sets enable en face projection imaging, which provides large field of view with uniform focus and signal level, while OCM provides high magnification that enables cellular resolution imaging. OCT alone has been employed to image human pathological tissues, such as gastrointestinal tract [11][12][13][14] , breast tissues [15][16][17] , urological tissues 18,19 , and human thyroid 20 , etc.. However, image resolution was limited to over 10um.…”