This article is cited in 8 papers

Biophotonics

Raster scanning and averaging for reducing the influence of speckles in optical coherence tomography

S. G. Proskurin

Tambov State Technical University

Abstract: The application of small-angle raster scanning and averaging in the sample arm of the Michelson interferometer in optical coherence tomography (OCT) is described. Raster averaging is used to increase the signal-to-noise ratio and to reduce the speckle noise of the 2D OCT image in diagnostics of surface layers of human skin and subcutaneous blood vessels in vivo. The method allows using low-coherence source of low-power radiation and increasing the depth of human skin coherent probing up to 1.5 — 1.8 mm. The reduction of speckle noise in the obtained OCT image for the first time allowed visualisation of subcutaneous blood vessels at the entire depth of their localisation.

Keywords: optical coherence tomography, coherence probing depth, optical properties of skin, blood vessels.

PACS: 42.30.Wb, 87.64.Cc, 87.63.L-, 42.62.Be

Received: 14.05.2012

 English version: Quantum Electronics, 2012, 42:6, 495–499

Bibliographic databases:

• 
• 
• 
•