Dispersion compensation for FD-OCT using spectrum reconstruction

In OCT system, the chromatic dispersion of sample decreases the resolution and increases the depth misplacement. The developed numerical dispersion compensation techniques usually do not consider the higher order dispersion and time-consuming.

We proposed a numerical compensation technique for correcting depth error and resolution deterioration in Fourier domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT).

Firstly, the rough depth of each scatter in multilayer sample is estimated through magnification curve. Then the depth of a scatter is iterated to minimum the residual of this scatter in the time domain. At last, the spectrum of the scatter is reconstructed and dispersion can be compensated with the tracked depth.

The results show that the depth error is corrected to less than resolution level and the resolution is corrected to nearly ideal.

The technique proposed can provide precise sample tomography, thus enhancing the understanding of sample character.