Zhongliang Li

Sinusoidal phase-modulating interferometer insensitive to intensity modulation of a laser diode for displacement measurement

In sinusoidal phase-modulating laser diode interferometers, an injection current of a laser diode is sinusoidally modulated to scan the laser wavelength. However, the modulation of the injection current also involves an intensity modulation of the light, which increases the measurement error if a conventional signal processing is used. A novel signal processing for displacement measurement is proposed to eliminate the influence of the intensity modulation. Numerical simulation results and experimental results make it clear that an optimal depth of the sinusoidal phase modulation exists that can reduce the measurement error to a few nanometers.

Depth-dependent dispersion compensation for full-depth OCT image

A depth-dependent dispersion compensation algorithm for enhancing the image quality of the Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) is presented. The dispersion related with depth in the sample is considered. Using the iterative method, an analytical formula for compensating the depth-dependent dispersion in the sample is obtained. We apply depth-dependent dispersion compensation algorithm to process the phantom images and in vivo images. Using sharpness metric based on variation coefficient to compare the results processed with different dispersion compensation algorithms, we find that the depth-dependent dispersion compensation algorithm can improve image quality at full depth.

Full-range Fourier domain Doppler optical coherence tomography based on sinusoidal phase modulation

A novel full-range Fourier domain Doppler optical coherence tomography (full-range FD-DOCT) using sinusoidal phase modulation for B-M scan is proposed. In this sinusoidal B-M scan, zero optical path difference (OPD) position does not move corresponding to lateral scanning points in contrast to linear B-M scan. Since high phase sensitivity arises around the zero OPD position, the proposed full-range FD-DOCT can achieve easily high velocity sensitivity without mirror image around the zero OPD position. Velocity sensitivity dependent on the OPD and the interval of scanning points is examined, and flow velocity detection capability is verified through Doppler imaging of a flow phantom and an in vivo biological sample.

Speckle reduction in optical coherence tomography by two-step image registration

Abstract. The image quality of optical coherence tomography can be severely influenced by speckle noise (i.e., signal-degrading speckle). Averaging multiple B-scans can effectively suppress speckle noise. Because of sample motion, images subject to averaging must be aligned exactly. We propose a two-step image registration scheme that combines global and local registrations for speckle reduction by the averaging of multiple B-scans. The method begins with a global registration to compensate for overall motion, which is estimated based on the rigid transformation model involving translation and rotation. Then each A-scan is aligned by cross-correlation using a graph-based algorithm, followed by a pixel subdivision method to improve smoothness in local registration. The method does not rely on any information about the retinal layer boundaries. We have applied this method to the registration of macular optical coherence tomography images. The results show the reduction of speckle noise and the enhanced visualization of layer structures. A signal-to-noise ratio improvement of nearly the square root of the number of averaged B-scans and a contrast-to-noise ratio improvement of around 11 are achieved through our method.

Full-range Fourier domain polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography using sinusoidal phase modulation

We present a full-range Fourier domain polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography technique which is able to obtain images of retardance, fast optical axis and intensity of sample. In this technique, the sinusoidal phase modulation is introduced into the spectral interferograms while the probe beam scans over the sample (B-scan). Then the complex horizontal and vertical signals are reconstructed by demodulation. By the Fourier transformation of the two interferograms, the full range images are obtained. Herein, the typical linear phase modulation is modified to sinusoidal phase modulation, which improves the system tolerance of sample movements and avoids sensitivity fall-off along the transverse scan. Furthermore, the images are obtained through the recombination of the horizontal and vertical polarization beam components acquired by a single camera, which avoids the problems of synchronous control and alignments in the situation of two cameras.

Passively Driven Probe Based on Miniaturized Propeller for Intravascular Optical Coherence Tomography

Optical coherent tomography (OCT) has enabled clinical applications ranging from ophthalmology to cardiology that revolutionized in vivo medical diagnostics in the last few decades, and a variety of endoscopic probes have been developed in order to meet the needs of various endoscopic OCT imaging. We propose a passive driven intravascular optical coherent tomography (IV-OCT) probe in this paper. Instead of using any electrically driven scanning device, the probe makes use of the kinetic energy of the fluid that flushes away the blood during the intravascular optical coherence tomography imaging. The probe converts it into the rotational kinetic energy of the propeller, and the rotation of the rectangular prism mounted on the propeller shaft enables the scanning of the beam. The probe is low cost, and enables unobstructed stable circumferential scanning over 360 deg. The experimental results show that the probe scanning speed can exceed 100 rotations per second (rps). Spectral-domain OCT imaging of a phantom and porcine cardiac artery are demonstrated with axial resolution of 13.6 μm, lateral resolution of 22 μm, and sensitivity of 101.7 dB. We present technically the passively driven IV-OCT probe in full detail and discuss how to optimize the probe in further.

Automatic spectral calibration for polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography

Accurate wavelength assignment is important for Fourier domain polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography. Incorrect wavelength mapping between the orthogonal horizontal (H) and vertical (V) polarization channels leads to broadening the axial point spread function and generating polarization artifacts. To solve the problem, we propose an automatic spectral calibration method by seeking the optimal calibration coefficient between wavenumber kH and kV. The method first performs a rough calibration to get the relationship between the wavelength λ and the pixel number x of the CCD for each channel. And then a precise calibration is taken to bring both polarization interferograms in the same k range through the optimal calibration coefficient. The optimal coefficient is automatically obtained by evaluating the cross-correlation of A-line signals. Simulations and experiments are implemented to demonstrate the performance of the proposed method. The results show that, compared to the peaks method, the proposed method is suitable in both Gaussian and non-Gaussian spectrums with a higher calibration accuracy.

A novel method for speckle reduction in optical coherence tomography by image registration

Speckle noise is a key factor that can influence the image quality of optical coherence tomography (OCT). The averaging of multiple B-scans can effectively suppress the speckle noise. Because of the sample motion, the images have to be exactly aligned before averaging. In this paper, we propose a new method for OCT image registration that combines global and local registration. The method is able to align the large global displacements in axial and lateral directions, as well as local displacements caused by non-linear deformation between images. Compared with other OCT image registration methods, our method improves the signal-to-noise ratio and contrast-to-noise ratio.

A method for obtaining scattering decomposed images in optical coherence tomography

A method for obtaining scattering decomposed images in optical coherence tomography based on a multiple scattering model is proposed. Images of different scattering components can be obtained with this method. Employing the proposed method, scattering decomposed images of a biological sample are obtained. Then spatial mean filtering for denoising is performed on only the multiple scattering component, and the total signal is reconstructed. This method is useful for observing the images of different scattering components and has the potential to be applied to information extraction or signal processing on these components separately.

Two-modality laser diode interferometer for high-accuracy measurement of long-range absolute distance

This paper presents a two-modality laser diode (LD) interferometer which combine as two-wavelength sinusoidal phase modulating (SPM) interferometer with a wavelength scanning interferometer (WSI) for measurement of distance over long range with high accuracy. Moreover, the intensity modulation due to power changes of LD is suppressed by appropriately choosing the modulation amplitude of injection current (IC) of LD. Triangle wave is used to modulate the IC of one LD with that of the other LD being constant at first. Thus the interferometer works as a wavelength scanning interferometer. An initial estimate of the distance can be obtained from the phase change of the interference signal. Then sinusoidal wave is used for modulating IC of both LDs to realize a two-wavelength SPM interferometer. However, the modulation of the IC of two LDs results in not only the wavelength modulation but also the intensity modulation. This intensity modulation will cause a measured phase error. To eliminate this error, SPM depths are appropriately chosen, therefore the distance to be measured can be accurately obtained with synthetic-wavelength algorithm. Experimental results indicate that an absolute distance measurement accuracy of 1μm can be achieved over the range of 40mm to 100mm.