All optical fiber combined-imaging system of photoacoustic and optical coherence tomography

摘要

We present an all optical fiber combined-imaging system that integrates non-contact photoacoustic tomography (NPAT) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) to simultaneously provide PA and OCT images. The fiber-based PAT system utilizing a Mach-Zehnder interferometer with a fiber laser of 1550 run measures the photoacoustic signal at the sample surface. For the generation of a PA signal, a pulse train from a bulk type Nd: YAG laser illuminates the sample via a large core multimode optical fiber. The fiber-based OCT operating at a center wavelength of 1310 nm allowed is combined with the fiber-based PAT system by sharing the same optical fiber probe. The two lights from the fiber laser and the OCT source are guided into the probe through each port of a 2 by 2 optical fiber coupler. The back-reflected lights from the sample are guided to respective imaging systems by the same coupler. With these both NPAT and OCT images could be co-registered without physical contact with the sample. To demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed system, a phantom experiment has been carried out with a phantom composed of a black PET fiber and a fishing wire. The proposed all fiber-optic combined-imaging system has the potential for minimally invasive and improved diagnosis.