A system and method for dynamic and automatic signal to noise enhancement in spectrometers to perform high quality and high-resolution spectral domain optical coherence tomography imaging.
We demonstrate the use of phase-stabilized swept-source optical coherence tomography to assess the propagation of low-amplitude (micron-level) waves induced by a focused air-pulse system in tissue-mimicking phantoms, a contact lens, a silicone eye model, and the mouse cornea in vivo. The results show that the wave velocity can be quantified from the analysis of wave propagation, thereby enabling the estimation of the sample elasticity using the model of surface wave propagation for the tissue-mimicking phantoms. This noninvasive, noncontact measurement technique involves low-force methods of tissue excitation that can be potentially used to assess the biomechanical properties of ocular and other delicate tissues in vivo.
Structural properties of the cornea determine the shape and optical quality of the eye. Keratoconus, a structural
degeneration of the cornea, is often treated with UV-induced collagen cross-linking to increase tissue resistance to
further deformation and degeneration. Optimal treatments would be customized to the individual and consider preexisting structural properties as well as the effects induced by treatment and this requires the capability to noninvasively measure tissue properties. The purpose of this study is to use novel methods of optical elastography to study the effects of UV-induced corneal collagen cross-linking in the rabbit eye. Low-amplitude (<1μm) elastic flexural waves were generated using focused air-pulse stimulation. Elastic wave propagation was measured over a 10x10mm area using Phase Stabilized Swept Source Optical Coherence Elastography (PhS-SSOCE) with a sensitivity of ~ 10 nm. Wave amplitude and velocity were computed and compared in tissues before and after UV cross-linking. Wave amplitude was decreased by the cross-linking treatment, while wave velocity was greater in cross-linked tissue than it was in the untreated cornea. Decreased wave amplitude and increased wave velocity after cross-linking is consistent with increased tissue stiffness. This was confirmed by conventional mechanical tension testing. These results demonstrate that the combination of the PhS-SSOCE and focused air pulse stimulation is capable of measuring low amplitude tissue motion and quantifying corneal stiffness.
We combine a focused air-puff system with phase-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PhS-OCT) to measure the elasticity of soft tissues. Surface waves (SWs) on soft tissues are induced by a low-pressure, short-duration air stream from an air-puff system and measured using a high-sensitivity PhS-OCT imaging system. Young’s modulus of soft tissues can be quantified based on the group velocity of SWs. To precisely control the excitation pressure, the air-puff system was characterized with a high-resolution analog pressure transducer. We studied the feasibility of this method for the non-contact detection of soft-tissue tumors. Ex vivo human fat and myxoma were used for these pilot experiments. Results demonstrate that this optical non-contact technique can be used to differentiate soft-tissue tumors from normal tissues based on measurements of their elasticity.
Here we demonstrate our use of phase stabilized swept-source optical coherence elastography (PhS-SSOCE) to assess elastic wave propagation in gelatin phantoms. From these measurements, Young’s moduli of the samples were determined. Low-amplitude (<10μm) mechanical waves were introduced using a focused air pulse on gelatin of different concentrations. Elastic wave amplitude and velocity were measured at multiple points on the phantom surface using a phase-resolved method. The results demonstrate that this method is capable of resolving very small changes in wave amplitude (~ 10 nm) as well as differences in wave velocity due to material stiffness. We further demonstrate use of this method for measurements with a contact lens, a silicone eye model and with the eye of an 18-month-old mouse in vivo. This non-destructive, non-invasive measurement system produces minimal tissue excitation and has high measurement sensitivity. These traits make this make this method useful for in vivo study of the biomechanical properties of ocular and other tissues.
We present a computational method for the analysis of optical coherence tomography (OCT) images to detect
soft tissue sarcomas. The method combines the quantitative analysis of two aspects of information from the
intensity A-lines of OCT images; one is the slope of the intensity A-line with dB unit, which is determined by
the optical attenuation characteristics of tissue; the other is the standard deviation (SD) of the slope-removed
intensity A-line, which is dependent on the tissue structural features. The method is tested with pilot
experiments on ex vivo tissue samples of human fat, muscle, well differentiated liposarcoma (WDLS) and
leiomyosarcoma. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of this quantitative method in the differentiation of soft
tissue sarcomas from normal tissues. This study indicates that OCT can be a potential computer-aided means of
automatically and accurately identifying resection margins of soft tissues sarcomas during surgical treatment.
We report a highly sensitive method based on phase-stabilized swept source optical coherence elastography (PhS-SSOCE) to measure elastic wave propagation in soft tissues in vivo. The waves were introduced using a mechanical stimulus and were assessed using the phase response of the swept source optical coherence tomography signal. The technique was utilized to measure age-related changes in elastic flexural wave velocity and attenuation in mice cornea in vivo. Results demonstrate that the wave velocity increases with animal age, supporting previous observations that stiffness of mice cornea gradually increases with age. Our studies suggest that the PhS-SSOCE technique could potentially be used to obtain biomechanical properties of ocular tissues in vivo.
In this paper, we report the use of phase stabilized swept source optical coherence tomography (PhSSSOCT)
for the measurement of surface mechanical wave propagation in ocular tissue in-situ. Mechanical wave
propagation was measured in the mouse cornea for both young and older mice to assess tissue properties as a
function of age. The measurements were performed by inducing low amplitude (< 100 μm) waves and measuring
the wave attenuation at spatially distributed points using a phase-sensitive analysis of OCT signals. Obtained results
indicate that the attenuation of the wave amplitude was 0.27 μm/mm in the one month-old mouse cornea and 0.37
μm/mm for 9 month old mice (and presumably of different stiffness for 1 month and 9 months old). Results also
suggest that PhS-SSOCT is capable of measuring the changes in the wave amplitude as small as 0.03 μm (limited by
the phase stability of the system) that allowed the measurements with a very low amplitude excitation wave, thus
making the method minimally invasive. Therefore, this method could potentially be used to assess tissue
biomechanical properties and to reconstruct stiffness maps of the cornea.
The stiffness of biological tissues could be assessed by measuring the propagation of mechanically induced waves on its
surfaces that could help identifying various tissue pathologies. Here we present results for the volumetric assessment of
mechanical waves propagating on both surfaces of the crystalline lens measured with the Phase-Sensitive Swept Source
Optical Coherence Tomography (PhS-SSOCT) technique. The results indicate that the system could detect vibrations of
as small as 0.03 μm in amplitude induced on the surface of crystalline lens, and hence, PhS-SSOCT could potentially be
used to assess stiffness of a crystalline lens.
Experimental assessment of stiffness of crystalline lens of the eye can help in understanding several ocular diseases. Studies have shown that stiffness of the eye lens increases with age that might contribute to loss of accommodation. The stiffness of the lens could be assessed by measuring mechanically induced surface waves
propagating on its surface. Here we present preliminary results on phase sensitive spectral domain optical coherence tomography (PhS-SDOCT) measurements of the vibrations induced on surface of an eye lens. The system shows an axial resolution of 8 μm, phase sensitivity of 0.01 radians, imaging depth of up to 3.4 mm in air and a scanning speed of 29 kHz for a single A-line. The results indicate that the system could detect vibrations as small as 0.45 μm induced on the surface of crystalline lens, and hence, PhS-SDOCT could be potentially used to assess stiffness of a crystalline lens.
KEYWORDS: Blood, Capillaries, Biomedical optics, Optical coherence tomography, Tissues, Diagnostics, Laser therapeutics, In vitro testing, In vivo imaging, Surgery
We have developed a phase stabilized swept source optical coherence tomography (PhS-SSOCT), that shows an
axial resolution of 10 μm, phase sensitivity of 0.04 radians, imaging depth of up to 6 mm in air and a scanning speed of
20 kHz for a single A-line. In this paper, the PhS-SSOCT is applied to quantify gas microbubbles in blood in vitro. The
results indicate that the system is able to detect bubbles of diameters greater than 10 μm using the structural image and
the microbubbles of diameter less than 10 μm could be detected using the temporal phase response. Images of the
bubbles of diameters 600 μm, 405 μm and 6 μm along with their phase responses are presented. Results indicate that the
PhS-SSOCT could be potentially used for rapid assessment of blood microbubbles in vivo that cause diseases associated
with decompression sickness, venous and arterial gas emboli and barotraumas. Eventually, PhS-SSOCT can be utilized
as an early diagnostic tool for clinical purposes.
A new method for monitoring ultra-small changes in blood hematocrit (~0.2%) based on measurement of refractive
index changes in vitro using Phase Sensitive Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography modality (PhS-SDOCT)
is introduced. The developed system has an axial resolution of ~8 μm, phase sensitivity of ±0.01 radians, imaging depth
of 3.4 ± 0.01 mm in air, and image acquisition speed of 29 kHz. The experimental accuracy for monitoring refractive
index changes as a function of hematocrit level in blood is found to be ±1.5x10-4 (±0.2%). Obtained results indicate that
the PhS-SDOCT can be used to monitor ultra-small changes in the hematocrit and in vitro and, potentially, in tissue
blood vessels in vivo.
The refractive index is a basic optical property of a medium which is of great importance in physics, chemistry
and most of biomedical applications. In our current study we monitor the change in refractive index for aqueous
solutions of glucose, CaCl2, MgCl2, NaCl, KCl and urea using a phase sensitive spectral domain optical coherence
tomography (ph-SOCT) system. For instance, glucose induced changes in the phase are found to be 0.079 rad/mM
in 200μm thick cuvette for clear media and that is in good agreement with literature and our previous obtained data
using phase sensitive low coherence optical reflectometry(PS-OLCR). The importance of this study is to
demonstrate the capability of ph-SOCT to monitor ultra small changes in refractive index in clear media and the
accuracy for glucose sensing is estimated to be ±2.6×10-6.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.