Imaging of cortical structures and microvasculature using extended-focus optical coherence tomography at 1.3  μm

Extended-focus optical coherence tomography (xf-OCT) is a variant of optical coherence tomography (OCT) wherein the illumination and/or detection modes are engineered to provide a constant diffractionless lateral resolution over an extended depth of field (typically 3 to 10× the Rayleigh range). xf-OCT systems operating at 800 nm have been devised and used in the past to image brain structures at high-resolution in vivo, but are limited to ∼500  μm in penetration depth due to their short illumination wavelength. Here we present an xf-OCT system optimized to an image deeper within the cortex by using a longer illumination central wavelength of 1310 nm. The system offers a lateral resolution of 3 and 6.5 μm, over a depth of 900 μm and >1.5  mm using a 10× and 5× objective, respectively, in air. We characterize the system's resolution using microbeads embedded in PDMS and demonstrate its capabilities by imaging the cortical structure and microvasculature in anesthetized mice to a depth of ∼0.8  mm. Finally, we illustrate the difference in penetration depths obtainable with the new system and an xf-OCT system operating at 800 nm.