Single-shot speckle noise reduction by interleaved optical coherence tomography

Area of Science:

• Biomedical imaging
• Optical coherence tomography (OCT)
• Image processing

Background:

• Speckle noise significantly degrades image quality in OCT.
• Current methods for noise reduction may compromise imaging speed or resolution.

Discussion:

• The proposed interleaved OCT (iOCT) strategy utilizes spatial and angular compounding.
• iOCT effectively suppresses speckle noise by combining multiple OCT acquisitions.
• This technique maintains high imaging speed, crucial for clinical applications.

Key Insights:

• iOCT demonstrates superior speckle noise reduction compared to conventional OCT.
• The method preserves fine details and structural information in OCT images.
• Successful validation in both phantom and biological tissue samples.

Outlook:

• iOCT has the potential to improve diagnostic accuracy in OCT-based imaging.
• Further research could explore advanced compounding techniques within the iOCT framework.
• This approach may be applicable to other interferometric imaging modalities.