Depth-resolved model-based reconstruction of attenuation coefficients in optical coherence tomography.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Optics
• Medical Imaging
• Optical Coherence Tomography

Background:

• Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a valuable imaging modality.
• Accurate estimation of tissue optical properties, like attenuation coefficient, is crucial for OCT-based tissue characterization.
• Existing methods for attenuation coefficient estimation in OCT have limitations, especially in complex structures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel method for calculating per-pixel attenuation coefficients from OCT depth profiles.
• To assess the accuracy and reliability of the proposed method compared to traditional techniques.
• To demonstrate the method's utility in improving OCT image quality and enabling advanced tissue analysis.

Main Methods:

• A single scattering model was employed to calculate pixel-wise attenuation coefficients in OCT depth profiles.
• Numerical simulations and experiments on uniform and layered phantoms with a 1300 nm OCT system were conducted.
• The proposed method was compared against the gold standard OCT slope fitting method.

Main Results:

• The proposed method showed consistent results with the gold standard for uniform phantoms.
• Accurate attenuation coefficient estimation was achieved for layered phantoms, outperforming the gold standard.
• The method significantly reduced the variability of estimated attenuation coefficients across all phantom types.
• Application to in-vivo retinal OCT scans effectively removed shadowing artifacts.

Conclusions:

• The developed method accurately estimates per-pixel attenuation coefficients in OCT data.
• This technique enhances tissue characterization capabilities by providing localized optical property information.
• The method improves OCT image quality by mitigating common artifacts, paving the way for more precise diagnostics.