Ultrahigh sensitive optical coherence elastography

Abstract

Phase stability of an optical coherence elastography (OCE) system is the key determining factor for precision elasticity measurement. In this study, we developed an OCE system based on swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) with a common-path configuration (SS-OCECP). Our system has a phase stability of 4.2 mrad without external stabilization or extensive post-processing, such as averaging. This phase stability allows us to detect a displacement as small as ~300 pm. We validated the SS-OCECP performance in a tissue-mimicking phantom and an in vivo rabbit model, and the results demonstrated significant improved phase stability compared to conventional SS-OCE. To the best of our knowledge, we demonstrated the first SS-OCECP system, which possess high phase stability and can be utilized to significantly improve the sensitivity of elastography.