Simple and robust calibration procedure for k-linearization and dispersion compensation in optical coherence...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Optics
• Medical Imaging
• Optical Engineering

Background:

• Achieving optimal axial resolution in Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT) relies on precise signal sampling and dispersion compensation.
• Traditional calibration methods for these parameters in FD-OCT often involve complex protocols and require prior system knowledge.
• Existing calibration techniques can be time-consuming and may necessitate specialized hardware, limiting their widespread application.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a simplified and highly robust calibration procedure for FD-OCT systems.
• To enable simultaneous determination of correction vectors for nonlinear wavenumber sampling and dispersion compensation.
• To provide a method that requires minimal system information and simple measurements.

Main Methods:

• The proposed method utilizes only two simple mirror measurements.
• It does not require prior knowledge of the illumination source or detection scheme.
• The procedure is implemented through numerical signal processing for calibration.

Main Results:

• The method successfully determines correction vectors for both nonlinear wavenumber sampling and dispersion compensation simultaneously.
• It demonstrates applicability to both spectral domain OCT and swept-source OCT systems.
• The procedure proved effective and robust in experimental validations on both OCT types.

Conclusions:

• A simplified, robust, and broadly applicable calibration method for FD-OCT has been developed.
• This technique reduces calibration complexity and hardware requirements, enhancing accessibility.
• The method can serve as a cost-effective validation tool for essential FD-OCT calibration hardware.