Polarization-insensitive optical coherence tomography using pseudo-depolarized reference light for mitigating birefringence-related image artifacts
Significance: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) images are prone to image artifacts due to the birefringence of the sample or the optical system when a polarized light source is used for imaging. These artifacts can lead to degraded image quality and diagnostic information. Aim: We aim to mitigate...
| Autores: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2024 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universidad de Cantabria (UC) |
| Repositorio: | UCrea Repositorio Abierto de la Universidad de Cantabria |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:repositorio.unican.es:10902/34511 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10902/34511 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Optical coherence tomography Polarization Polarization artifacts Birefringence |
| Sumario: | Significance: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) images are prone to image artifacts due to the birefringence of the sample or the optical system when a polarized light source is used for imaging. These artifacts can lead to degraded image quality and diagnostic information. Aim: We aim to mitigate these birefringence-related artifacts in OCT images by adding a depolarizer module in the reference arm of the interferometer. Approach: We investigated different configurations of liquid crystal patterned retarders as pseudo-depolarizers in the reference arm of OCT setups. We identified the most effective depolarization module layout for polarization artifact suppression for a spectral-domain OCT system based on a Michelson and a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. Results: The performance of our approach was demonstrated in an achromatic quarter-wave plate allowing the selection of a variety of sample polarization states. A substantial improvement of the OCT signal magnitude was observed after placing the optimal depolarizer configuration, reducing the cross-polarization artifact from 5.7 to 1.8 dB and from 8.0 to 1.0 dB below the co-polarized signal for the fiber-based Michelson and Mach-Zehnder setup, respectively. An imaging experiment in the birefringent scleral tissue of a post-mortem alpine marmot eye and a mouse tail specimen further showcased a significant improvement in the detected signal intensity and an enhanced OCT image quality followed by a drastic elimination of the birefringence-related artifacts. Conclusions: Our study presents a simple yet cost-effective technique to mitigate birefringence-related artifacts in OCT imaging. This method can be readily imple mented in existing OCT technology and improve the effectiveness of various OCT imaging applications in biomedicine. |
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