Roman V. Romashko

Adaptive interferometry with photorefractive crystals

This work presents a review of progress and development in the field of adaptive laser interferometry. This method enables highly precise and reliable measurement of various physical parameters under unstable environmental conditions, which makes it very attractive for numerous industrial applications.

A new look at the essence of the imaging photoplethysmography

Photoplethysmography (PPG) is a noninvasive optical method accepted in the clinical use for measurements of arterial oxygen saturation. It is widely believed that the light intensity after interaction with the biological tissue in vivo is modulated at the heartbeat frequency mainly due to pulsatile variations of the light absorption caused by arterial blood-volume pulsations. Here we report experimental observations, which are not consistent with this model and demonstrate the importance of elastic deformations of the capillary bed in the formation of the PPG waveform. These results provide new insight on light interaction with live tissue. To explain the observations we propose a new model of PPG in which pulse oscillations of the arterial transmural pressure deform the connective-tissue components of the dermis resulting in periodical changes of both the light scattering and absorption. These local changes of the light-interaction parameters are detected as variations of the light intensity returned to a photosensitive camera. Therefore, arterial pulsations can be indirectly monitored even by using the light, which slightly penetrates into the biological tissue.

Fast adaptive interferometer on dynamic reflection hologram in CdTe:V.

We present an adaptive interferometer based on the reflection dynamic hologram recorded in photorefractive CdTe:V crystal with no external electric field. Linear phase-to-intensity transformation is achieved by vectorial mixing of two waves with different polarization states (linear and elliptical) in the anisotropic diffraction geometry. Comparison of reflection and transmission geometries considering both sensitivity and adaptability is carried out. It is shown that the reflection geometry is characterized by better combination of these parameters provided that the crystal possesses high enough concentration of photorefractive centers.

Sensing of multimode-fiber strain by a dynamic photorefractive hologram

We present a strain sensor in which a multimode fiber is used as a sensitive element. High sensitivity to dynamic strains is achieved by means of vectorial wave mixing in a photorefractive CdTe:V crystal. It was found that the largest source of noise in our sensor is related to the instability of the polarization state of speckles emerging from the fiber. This noise is significantly diminished in fiber with a core of large diameter (550 microm).

Photorefractive vectorial wave mixing in different geometries

We analyze vectorial wave mixing in a photorefractive crystal of cubic symmetry in different geometries of beam interactions--reflection, transmission, and orthogonal. It is shown that orthogonal geometry in contrast with others supports an efficient phase demodulation of a depolarized object wave in linear mode without using any polarization-filtering elements. As a result adaptive interferometers based on the orthogonal geometry can provide a higher signal-to-noise ratio due to lower noise and lower optical losses.

Influence of a skin status on the light interaction with dermis

We present experimental evidence that the parameters of green light remitted from a human tissue in-vivo strongly depend on skin contact status. In case when the skin is free of any contact, simultaneous recording of imaging photoplethysmogram (iPPG) and electrocardiogram revealed that contactless iPPG fails in correct estimates of the heart rate in almost half of the cases. Meanwhile, the number of successful correlations between ECG and iPPG is significantly increased when the skin is in contact with a glass plate. These observations are in line with the recently proposed model in which pulsatile arteries deform the connective-tissue components of the dermis thus resulting in temporal modulation of the capillary density interacting with slightly penetrating light.

Fast photogalvanic response of a Bi12SiO20 crystal

A photoelectric response of a Bi12SiO20 crystal grown in an argon atmosphere on a linearly polarized light (which is referred to as the linear photogalvanic effect) is reported for the first time in the nanosecond-time domain. Optimal geometry for detection of the photo-induced current concerning the orientation of the polarization state of the incident light in respect to the crystallographic axes of a sample was determined considering both the natural optical activity and light absorption of sillenite crystals. Spectral dependence of the photogalvanic current was measured in the visible part (410 - 610 nm) of the spectrum. Temporal shape of light-induced electric-current pulses observed at different experimental conditions is discussed. Obtained results are believed to show that sillenite crystals are very prospective for development of different ultra-fast optoelectronics devices.

Origin of Infrared Light Modulation in Reflectance-Mode Photoplethysmography.

We recently pointed out the important role of dermis deformation by pulsating arterial pressure in the formation of a photoplethysmographic signal at green light. The aim of this study was to explore the role of this novel finding in near-infrared (NIR) light. A light-emitting diode (LED)-based imaging photoplethysmography (IPPG) system was used to detect spatial distribution of blood pulsations under frame-to-frame switching green and NIR illumination in the palms of 34 healthy individuals. We observed a significant increase of light-intensity modulation at the heartbeat frequency for both illuminating wavelengths after a palm was contacted with a glass plate. Strong positive correlation between data measured at green and NIR light was found, suggesting that the same signal was read independently from the depth of penetration. Analysis of the data shows that an essential part of remitted NIR light is modulated in time as a result of elastic deformations of dermis caused by variable blood pressure in the arteries. Our observations suggest that in contrast with the classical model, photoplethysmographic waveform originates from the modulation of the density of capillaries caused by the variable pressure applied to the skin from large blood vessels. Particularly, beat-to-beat transmural pressure in arteries compresses/decompresses the dermis and deforms its connective-tissue components, thus affecting the distance between the capillaries, which results in the modulation of absorption and scattering coefficients of both green and NIR light. These findings are important for the correct interpretation of this widely used medical technique, which may have novel applications in diagnosis and treatment monitoring of aging and skin diseases.

Polarization Effects at Two-Beam Interaction on Reflection Holographic Gratings in Sillenite Crystals

The polarization structure of the signal wave that interacts with a circularly polarized pump wave on the reflection holographic gratings in the (112)-, (111)-, and (110)-cut Bi12TiO20 (BTO) crystals is experimentally and theoretically analyzed. An analytical expression for the vector field of the signal wave that is valid for an arbitrary orientation of the cubic refractive crystal is derived using approximation of the nondepleting circularly polarized pump wave. The contribution of the absorption component of the reflection hologram into the counter interaction is estimated for the crystals under study using the approximation of the experimental data with theoretical curves. Based on the experiments with incoherent quasi-monochromatic radiation, it is demonstrated that the real BTO crystals exhibit weak induced linear birefringence.

A multichannel correlation filter based on a photorefractive crystal for the processing of varying speckle fields

A method for the simultaneous processing of speckle fields generated by several single-fiber multimode interferometers is developed. The method uses a multichannel correlation filter based on a single photorefractive crystal. Mutual influence of the neighboring channels is analyzed, and it is shown that the simultaneous processing of several channels can be performed with the help of a single photorefractive crystal, provided that the interchannel spacing is not smaller than half of the size of the optical field pattern formed in the crystal plane.