Ultrahigh resolution spectral-domain optical coherence tomography using the 1000-1600 nm spectral band

Liane Bernstein; Antoine Ramier; Jiamin Wu; Vera D Aiello; Marie J Béland; Charles P Lin; Seok-Hyun Yun

doi:10.1364/BOE.443654

Ultrahigh resolution spectral-domain optical coherence tomography using the 1000-1600 nm spectral band

Biomed Opt Express. 2022 Mar 8;13(4):1939-1947. doi: 10.1364/BOE.443654. eCollection 2022 Apr 1.

Authors

Liane Bernstein^{1

2}, Antoine Ramier^{1

3}, Jiamin Wu^{1

4

5}, Vera D Aiello⁶, Marie J Béland⁷, Charles P Lin^{1

8}, Seok-Hyun Yun^{1

3

8}

Affiliations

¹ Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, 50 Blossom Street, Boston, MA 02140, USA.
² Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
³ Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
⁴ Department of Automation, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
⁵ Institute for Brain and Cognitive Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
⁶ Laboratory of Pathology, Heart Institute, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil.
⁷ Division of Pediatric Cardiology, The Montreal Children's Hospital of the McGill University Health Centre, Montréal, Quebec, Canada.
⁸ Department of Dermatology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.

Abstract

Ultrahigh resolution optical coherence tomography (UHR-OCT) can image microscopic features that are not visible with the standard OCT resolution of 5-15 µm. In previous studies, high-speed UHR-OCT has been accomplished within the visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR-I) spectral ranges, specifically within 550-950 nm. Here, we present a spectral domain UHR-OCT system operating in a short-wavelength infrared (SWIR) range from 1000 to 1600 nm using a supercontinuum light source and an InGaAs-based spectrometer. We obtained an axial resolution of 2.6 µm in air, the highest ever recorded in the SWIR window to our knowledge, with deeper penetration into tissues than VIS or NIR-I light. We demonstrate imaging of conduction fibers of the left bundle branch in freshly excised porcine hearts. These results suggest a potential for deep-penetration, ultrahigh resolution OCT in intraoperative applications.

Abstract

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