Time-gated imaging with femtosecond transillumination optical coherence tomography

摘要

Abstract: We describe a new technique called femtosecond transillumination optical coherence tomography which combines femtosecond pulses, coherent heterodyne detection, and fiber-optic confocal imaging to achieve time-gated and spatially resolved imaging through diffusive biological tissue. Images of absorbing objects embedded in scattering biological media are demonstrated by selecting either the earliest arriving unscattered ballistic component or the least scattered portion of the diffuse transmitted light. Time and spatially resolved analysis of photon migration through model scattering systems is used to establish fundamental limits for this class of time-gated and spatially resolved optical imaging techniques, and to evaluate their potential biomedical applications in early tumor diagnosis. !38