Single-shot full-field optical coherence tomography with a single polarization camera.

Area of Science:

• Optical Engineering
• Biomedical Imaging
• Photonics

Background:

• Full-field optical coherence tomography (FF-OCT) enables rapid, high-resolution cross-sectional imaging.
• Traditional FF-OCT systems can be limited by slow acquisition speeds and sensitivity to motion artifacts.
• Developing compact and robust FF-OCT systems is crucial for in situ and in vivo applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a novel single-shot FF-OCT (S-FF-OCT) implementation using a polarization camera.
• To demonstrate a compact and efficient S-FF-OCT system for imaging dynamic samples.
• To validate the system's performance in challenging conditions, such as environmental vibrations.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a Linnik interferometer integrated with a commercial polarization camera for S-FF-OCT.
• Developed a polarization-channeled detection scheme to acquire phase-shifted quadrature components in a single capture.
• Employed coherence gating for generating en-face OCT images from interferograms.

Main Results:

• Successfully implemented S-FF-OCT using a single-sensor polarization camera.
• Achieved tomographic imaging with a single camera capture and short integration time.
• Demonstrated effective imaging of moving objects and biological specimens under ambient vibrations.

Conclusions:

• The developed S-FF-OCT system offers a simple, compact, and robust solution for high-speed tomographic imaging.
• The polarization-based approach overcomes limitations of conventional FF-OCT systems in dynamic environments.
• This technique shows significant potential for in situ FF-OCT imaging of biological samples and other fast-moving subjects.