Full-Field Optical Coherence Tomography

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an interferometric imaging technique that has become an established tool for deep-tissue imaging. Full-field (FF) OCT is one of its variants that can perform fast en face imaging with high isotropic resolution (<1 µm in 3D) by using a camera for detection and an incoherent light source for illumination. Such a system can be successfully used in applications ranging from imaging the enteric nervous system to that of imaging internal fingerprints. However, FF-OCT remains a relatively slow volumetric imaging technique since a sample has to be scanned axially to acquire 3D data. To this end, Fourier domain (FD) FF-OCT has been introduced that can acquire a single 3D volume in milliseconds by using a tunable laser source and an ultrafast camera. Auksorius presents on recent work with his team to implement phase randomization in the image acquisition process with FD-FF-OCT, thereby reducing the coherent noise that limits imaging depth. Such optimized fast FD-FF-OCT enabled corneal and retinal imaging of the human eye in vivo with unprecedented clarity, detail and speed.

About the presenter
Egidijus Auksorius, Ph.D., received his doctorate in physics from Imperial College London for work on superresolution stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy and fluorescence lifetime imaging. He then worked as a research fellow at Harvard Medical School and the Institut Langevin in Paris on developing FF-OCT technology for various imaging applications that included visualizing neurons in the gut and in vivo imaging of internal fingerprints. Subsequently, as a senior researcher at the Polish Academy of Sciences, he developed Fourier-domain FF-OCT systems for human retina and cornea imaging in vivo. He is currently a principal investigator at the Center for Physical Sciences and Technology in Vilnius, Lithuania. His present research interests include combining principles of optical microscopy and OCT for in vivo biomedical imaging.