High-volume-resolution quantum optical coherence tomography imaging with efficient artifact removal

Area of Science:

• Quantum optics
• Biomedical imaging
• Optical metrology

Background:

• Optical coherence tomography (OCT) offers non-invasive imaging but suffers from resolution degradation due to dispersion.
• Quantum optical coherence tomography (QOCT) presents a solution to dispersion-related resolution issues.
• Existing QOCT methods face challenges with insufficient volume resolution and image artifacts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a QOCT system with enhanced volume resolution.
• To implement efficient artifact removal techniques for QOCT imaging.
• To demonstrate the feasibility of high-resolution QOCT under group velocity dispersion.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of a novel QOCT system.
• Evaluation of axial and lateral resolution, achieving 1.5 μm and 1.6 μm respectively.
• Application of maximum clique search algorithm for artifact removal in post-processing.

Main Results:

• Achieved a volume resolution of 4.0 μm³ (4.0 fL), representing a significant improvement.
• Demonstrated high-volume-resolution QOCT imaging capability even in the presence of group velocity dispersion.
• Successfully removed inherent QOCT artifacts using graph theory-based post-processing.

Conclusions:

• The developed QOCT system provides high-volume resolution imaging with efficient artifact suppression.
• This advancement enables detailed imaging of three-dimensional fine structures, even with dispersion.
• The study offers a promising pathway for advanced QOCT applications in various scientific fields.