Dynamically enhanced optical coherence tomography

Abstract: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) uses low-coherence reflectometry to obtain cross-sectional images of inhomogeneous media, such as biological tissue. OCT is particularly useful in the biomedical ea, since the imaging can be performed non-invasively, and in a relatively short time. As such, OCT is not only used in research, but has proven to be effective in clinical practice, with the fields of its application continuing to grow. In OCT, essentially, the reflectance of each cross-section along the depth direction is obtained with high spatial resolution ($\bm {\sim10\,\mu}$m), revealing the structure of the sample. We have developed a system that combines OCT with thermal fluctuation measurements, which extracts physical properties, such as the viscoelastic characteristics, of each cross-section in the depth direction. We demonstrate the efficacy of this system using various samples. Furthermore, the noise is reduced to below shot-noise levels using averaged correlations, making it possible to extract spectral information otherwise unobtainable. The measurement system can in principle lead to tissue characterization and pathological diagnosis.