Method and apparatus for performing optical imaging using frequency-domain interferometry

• US 7,733,497 B2
• Filed: 09/08/2004
• Issued: 06/08/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/27/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The General Hospital Corporation (Mass General Brigham, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: The General Hospital Corporation (Mass General Brigham, Inc.)
• Inventors: De Boer, Johannes Fitzgerald, Bouma, Brett Eugene, Yun, Seok-Hyun, Tearney, Guillermo J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lyons; Michael A
• Application Number:
  US10/577,562
• Publication Number:
  US 20060244973A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,099 Days
• Field of Search: 356/477, 356/479, 356/497, 250/227.19, 250/227.27, 385/12
• US Class Current: 356/497
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0059 using light, e.g. diagnosis by transillumination, diascopy, fluorescence A61B5/0093, A61B5/1455, A61B5/02416 and A61B5/0261 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0066 Optical coherence imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7257 using Fourier transforms
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 2290/45 Multiple detectors for detecting interferometer signals
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 2290/70 Using polarization in the interferometer
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 9/02002 using two or more frequencies
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 9/02004 using frequency scans
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 9/02043 Imaging of the Fourier or pupil or back focal plane, i.e. angle resolved imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 9/02075 of particular errors
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 9/02081 simultaneous quadrature detection, e.g. by spatial phase shifting
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 9/02083 characterised by particular signal processing and presentation
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 9/02084 Processing in the Fourier or frequency domain when not imaged in the frequency domain
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 9/0209 Low-coherence interferometers
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 9/02091 Tomographic interferometers, e.g. based on optical coherence
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 3/02 Details
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 3/0208 using focussing or collimating elements, e.g. lenses or mirrors; performing aberration correction
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 3/021 using plane or convex mirrors, parallel phase plates, or particular reflectors
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 3/0218 using optical fibers
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 3/0264 Electrical interface; User interface
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 3/453 by correlation of the amplitudes
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 9/0215 : by shearing interferometric methods
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/4795 : spatially resolved investigating of object in scattering medium in vivo A61B
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 26/12 : using multifaceted mirrors
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/48 : Laser speckle optics
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/3604 : Rotary joints allowing relative rotational movement between opposing fibre or fibre bundle ends
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/093 : used as non-reciprocal devices, e.g. optical isolators, circulators G02F1/0955 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/11 : based on acousto-optical elements, e.g. using variable diffraction by sound or like mechanical waves acousto-optical deflection G02F1/33
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/0071 : Beam steering, e.g. whereby a mirror outside the cavity is present to change the beam direction
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/0078 : Frequency filtering
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/08009 : using a diffraction grating
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/08063 : Graded reflectivity, e.g. variable reflectivity mirror
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/105 : by controlling the mutual position or the reflecting properties of the reflectors of the cavity , e.g. by controlling the cavity lengthH01S3/10076, H01S3/13 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/1068 : using an acousto-optical device
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/0071 : for beam steering, e.g. using a mirror outside the cavity to change the beam direction
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/0078 : for frequency filtering
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/1025 : Extended cavities
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/14 : External cavity lasers H01S5/18 takes precedence; mode locking H01S5/065
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/141 : using a wavelength selective device, e.g. a grating or etalon H01S5/146 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/146 : using a fiber as external cavity
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/5045 : the arrangement having a frequency filtering function

Abstract

An apparatus and method are provided. In particular, at least one first electro-magnetic radiation may be provided to a sample and at least one second electro-magnetic radiation can be provided to a non-reflective reference. A frequency of the first and/or second radiations varies over time. An interference is detected between at least one third radiation associated with the first radiation and at least one fourth radiation associated with the second radiation. Alternatively, the first electro-magnetic radiation and/or second electro-magnetic radiation have a spectrum which changes over time. The spectrum may contain multiple frequencies at a particular time. In addition, it is possible to detect the interference signal between the third radiation and the fourth radiation in a first polarization state. Further, it may be preferable to detect a further interference signal between the third and fourth radiations in a second polarization state which is different from the first polarization state. The first and/or second electro-magnetic radiations may have a spectrum whose mean frequency changes substantially continuously over time at a tuning speed that is greater than 100 Tera Hertz per millisecond.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a first arrangement providing a first electro-magnetic radiation to a sample and a second electro-magnetic radiation to a non-reflective reference, wherein a frequency of radiation provided by the first arrangement varies over time; and

a second arrangement detecting an interference between a third radiation associated with the first radiation and a fourth radiation associated with the second radiation.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the third radiation is a radiation returned from the sample, and the fourth radiation is a radiation returned from the reference.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a third arrangement configured to shift the frequency of at least one of the first electro-magnetic radiation, the second electromagnetic radiation, the third electro-magnetic radiation or the fourth electro-magnetic radiation, and further configured to at least partially reduce, differentiate or eliminate negative frequency components of the interference.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the second arrangement comprises a photodetector and at least one electrical analog filter which follows the photodetector.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the electric analog filter is a bandpass filter having a center frequency that is approximately the same as a magnitude of the frequency shift by the frequency shifting third arrangement.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a transmission profile of the at least one electrical analog filter varies substantially over its passband.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a one third arrangement configured to generate an image based on the detected interference.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a probe which is configured to scans a transverse location of the sample to generate scanning data, and provide the scanning data to the third arrangement so as to generate the image.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the scanning data includes the detected interference obtained at multiple transverse locations on the sample.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second arrangement comprises a photodetector and at least one electrical analog filter which follows the photodetector.

11. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the probe comprises a rotary junction and a fiber-optic catheter.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the catheter is rotated at a speed higher than 30 revolutions per second.

13. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a polarization modulator which is configured to modulate a polarization of the electro-magnetic radiation over time.

14. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the second arrangement is capable of detecting a polarization state of at least one of the first electro-magnetic radiation or the second electro-magnetic radiation.

15. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second arrangement comprises a balanced receiver which is configured to remove an auto-correlation associated with the third radiation.

16. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second arrangement comprises a polarization diverse receiver.

17. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second arrangement comprises a polarization diverse and dual balanced receiver which is configured to remove an auto-correlation associated with the third radiation.

18. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a third arrangement which is specifically configured to track the phase difference between at least one of:

the first electromagnetic radiation and the second electromagnetic radiation, or

the third electromagnetic radiation and the fourth electromagnetic radiation.

19. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an arrangement configured to emit a particular radiation which is provided to the first arrangement when the first arrangement provides the first and second electro-magnetic radiations based on the particular radiation, wherein at least one of the first and second electro-magnetic radiations has a spectrum whose mean frequency changes substantially continuously over time at a tuning speed that is greater than 100 Tera Hertz per millisecond.

20. A method comprising the steps of:

providing a first electro-magnetic radiation to a sample and a second electro-magnetic radiation to a non-reflective reference, wherein a frequency of the at least one of the first electro-magnetic radiation or the second electro-magnetic radiations varies over time; and

detecting an interference between a third radiation associated with the first radiation and a fourth radiation associated with the second radiation.

21. An apparatus comprising:

a first arrangement providing a first electro-magnetic radiation to a sample and a second electro-magnetic radiation to a reference, wherein at least one of the first electro-magnetic radiation or the second electro-magnetic radiations has a spectrum which changes over time, the spectrum containing multiple differing longitudinal modes; and

a second arrangement detecting an interference between a third radiation associated with the first radiation and a fourth radiation associated with the second radiation.

22. The apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the third radiation is a radiation returned from the sample, and the fourth radiation is a radiation returned from the reference.

23. The apparatus according to claim 21, further comprising a third arrangement configured to shift the frequency of at least one of the first electro-magnetic radiation, the second electromagnetic radiation, the third electro-magnetic radiation or the fourth electro-magnetic radiation, and further configured to at least partially reduce, differentiate or eliminate negative frequency components of the interference.

24. The apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the second arrangement comprises a photodetector and at least one electrical analog filter which follows the photodetector.

25. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the at least one electric analog filter is a bandpass filter having a center frequency that is approximately the same as a magnitude of the frequency shift by the frequency shifting arrangement.

26. The apparatus according to claim 25, wherein a transmission profile of the electrical analog filter varies substantially over its passband.

27. The apparatus according to claim 21, further comprising a third arrangement generating an image based on the detected interference.

28. The apparatus according to claim 24, further comprising a probe which scans a transverse location of the sample to generate scanning data, and which provides the scanning data to the third arrangement so as to generate the image.

29. The apparatus according to claim 28, wherein the scanning data includes the detected interference obtained at multiple transverse locations on the sample.

30. The apparatus according to claim 28, wherein the probe comprises a rotary junction and a fiber-optic catheter.

31. The apparatus according to claim 30, wherein the catheter is rotated at a speed higher than 30 revolutions per second.

32. The apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the reference is non-reflective.

33. The apparatus according to claim 21, wherein a median of the spectrum varies substantially linearly over time.

34. The apparatus according to claim 33, wherein a rate of change of the median of the spectrum is at least 1000 nm/msec.

35. The apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the spectrum change over time repetitively with a repetition rate of at least 10 kHz.

36. The apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the arrangement includes a spectral filter to vary the spectrum over time.

37. The apparatus according to claim 36, wherein the spectral filter includes a polygon scanner, a spectral separating arrangement that vary the spectrum over time, and an optical imaging arrangement which is configured to directly receive from the spectral separating arrangement one or more components of the interference, and converge and project the one or more components of the interference onto an image plane.

38. The apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the first arrangement includes a semiconductor gain medium configured to at least one of generate or amplify an electro-magnetic radiation.

39. The apparatus according to claim 21, further comprising a polarization modulator which is configured to modulate a polarization of the electro-magnetic radiation over time.

40. The apparatus according to claim 39, wherein the second arrangement is capable of detecting a polarization state of at least one of the first electro-magnetic radiation or the second electro-magnetic radiation.

41. The apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the second arrangement comprises a dual balanced receiver which is configured to remove an auto-correlation associated with the third radiation.

42. The apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the second arrangement comprises a polarization diverse receiver.

43. The apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the second arrangement comprises a polarization diverse and dual balanced receiver which is configured to remove an auto-correlation associated with the third radiation.

44. The apparatus according to claim 21, further comprising a third arrangement which is specifically configured to track the phase difference between at least one of:

the first electromagnetic radiation and the second electromagnetic radiation, or

the third electromagnetic radiation and the fourth electromagnetic radiation.

45. The apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the spectrum contains multiple differing longitudinal modes at any one time.

46. A method comprising:

providing a first electro-magnetic radiation to a sample and a second electro-magnetic radiation to a reference, wherein at least one of the first electro-magnetic radiation or the second electro-magnetic radiation has a spectrum which changes over time, the spectrum containing multiple differing longitudinal modes; and

detecting an interference between a third radiation associated with first radiation and a fourth radiation associated with the second radiation.

47. The method according to claim 46, wherein the spectrum contains multiple differing longitudinal modes at any one time.

48. An apparatus comprising:

a first arrangement providing a first electro-magnetic radiation to a sample and a second electro-magnetic radiation to a reference, wherein a frequency of radiation provided by the first arrangement varies over time;

a polarization modulator arrangement which is configured to modulate a polarization of at least one of the first electro-magnetic radiation or the second electro-magnetic radiation over time;

a second arrangement detecting a first interference signal between a third radiation associated with the first radiation and a fourth radiation associated with the second radiation in a first polarization state; and

a third arrangement detecting a second interference signal between the third and fourth electro-magnetic radiations in a second polarization state, wherein the first and second polarization states being different from one another.

49. The apparatus according to claim 48, wherein the third radiation is a radiation returned from the sample, and the fourth radiation is a radiation returned from the reference.

50. The apparatus according to claim 48, further comprising a fourth arrangement configured to shift the frequency of at least one of the first electro-magnetic radiation, the second electromagnetic radiation, the third electro-magnetic radiation or the fourth electro-magnetic radiation.

51. The apparatus according to claim 50, wherein the second arrangement comprises a photodetector and at least one electrical analog filter which follows the photodetector.

52. The apparatus according to claim 51, wherein the electric analog filter is a bandpass filter having a center frequency that is approximately the same as a magnitude of the frequency shift by the frequency shifting arrangement.

53. The apparatus according to claim 52, wherein a transmission profile of the electrical analog filter varies substantially over its passband.

54. The apparatus according to claim 48, further comprising fourth arrangement generating an image based on the detected interference.

55. The apparatus according to claim 54, further comprising a probe which scans a transverse location of the sample to generate scanning data, and which provides the scanning data to the fourth arrangement so as to generate the image.

56. The apparatus according to claim 55, wherein the scanning data includes the detected interference obtained at multiple transverse locations on the sample.

57. The apparatus according to claim 55, wherein the probe comprises a rotary junction and a fiber-optic catheter.

58. The apparatus according to claim 57, wherein the catheter is rotated at a speed higher than 30 revolutions per second.

59. The apparatus according to claim 48, wherein the reference is non-reflective.

60. The apparatus according to claim 48, wherein a median of the spectrum varies substantially linearly over time.

61. The apparatus according to claim 48, wherein the first arrangement includes a spectral filter to vary the spectrum over time.

62. The apparatus according to claim 61, wherein the spectral filter includes a polygon scanner, a spectral separating arrangement that vary the spectrum over time, and at least one optical imaging arrangement which is configured to directly receive from the spectral separating arrangement one or more components of the interference, and converge and project the one or more components of the interference onto an image plane.

63. The apparatus according to claim 48, wherein the first arrangement includes a semiconductor gain medium configured to at least one of generate or amplify an electro-magnetic radiation.

64. The apparatus according to claim 48, further comprising a fourth arrangement generating an image based on the detected interference, wherein the first and second polarization states are approximately orthogonal to one another.

65. The apparatus according to claim 48, wherein the second arrangement is configured to detect a polarization state of at least one of the first electro-magnetic radiation or the second electro-magnetic radiation.

66. The apparatus according to claim 48, wherein the second arrangement comprises a dual balanced receiver.

67. The apparatus according to claim 48, wherein the second arrangement comprises a polarization diverse receiver.

68. The apparatus according to claim 48, wherein the second arrangement comprises a polarization diverse and dual balanced receiver.

69. The apparatus according to claim 48, further comprising a third arrangement which is specifically configured to track the phase difference between at least one of:

the first electromagnetic radiation and the second electromagnetic radiation, or

the third electromagnetic radiation and the fourth electromagnetic radiation.

70. A method comprising:

providing a first electro-magnetic radiation to a sample and a second electro-magnetic radiation to a reference, wherein a frequency of the at least one of the first electro-magnetic radiation or the second electro-magnetic radiations varies over time;

modulating a polarization of at least one of the first electro-magnetic radiation or the second electro-magnetic radiation over time;

detecting a first interference signal between a third radiation associated with the first radiation and a fourth radiation associated with the second radiation in a first polarization state; and

detecting a second interference signal between the third and fourth electro-magnetic radiations in a second polarization state, wherein the first and second polarization states being different from one another.

71. The method according to claim 70, wherein the third radiation is a radiation returned from the sample, and the fourth radiation is a radiation returned from the reference.

72. An apparatus comprising:

a first arrangement providing a first electro-magnetic radiation to a sample and a second electro-magnetic radiation to a reference, wherein at least one of the first electro-magnetic radiation or the second electro-magnetic radiation has a spectrum whose mean frequency changes substantially continuously over time at a tuning speed that is greater than 100 Tera Hertz per millisecond; and

a second arrangement detecting an interference between a third radiation associated with the first radiation and a fourth radiation associated with the second radiation.

73. The apparatus according to claim 72, wherein the mean frequency changes repeatedly at a repetition rate that is greater than 5 kilo Hertz.

74. The apparatus according to claim 72, wherein the mean frequency changes over a range that is greater than 10 Tera Hertz.

75. The apparatus according to claim 74, the center of the tuning range of the spectrum is nominally centered at 1300 nm.

76. The apparatus according to claim 74, the center of the tuning range of the spectrum is nominally centered at 850 nm.

77. The apparatus according to claim 74, wherein the center of the tuning range of the spectrum is nominally centered at 1700 nm.

78. The apparatus according to claim 72, wherein the spectrum has an instantaneous line width that is smaller than 100 Giga Hertz.

79. The apparatus according to claim 72, further comprising a laser cavity with a roundtrip length shorter than 5 m.

80. The apparatus according to claim 72, wherein the reference is a non-reflective reference.

81. The apparatus according to claim 72, wherein the spectrum contains multiple differing longitudinal modes.

82. The apparatus according to claim 72, further comprising a polarization modulator arrangement which is configured to modulate a polarization of at least one of the first electro-magnetic radiation or the second electro-magnetic radiation over time.

83. The apparatus according to claim 72, further comprising a third arrangement configured to shift the frequency of at least one of the first electro-magnetic radiation, the second electromagnetic radiation, the third electro-magnetic radiation or the fourth electro-magnetic radiation, and further configured to at least partially reduce, differentiate or eliminate negative frequency components of the interference.

84. The apparatus according to claim 83, wherein the second arrangement comprises a photodetector and at least one electrical analog filter which follows the photodetector.

85. The apparatus according to claim 72, wherein the second arrangement comprises a photodetector and at least one electrical analog filter which follows the photodetector.

86. The apparatus according to claim 72, further comprising:

a third arrangement generating an image based on the detected interference; and

a probe which scans a transverse location of the sample to generate scanning data, and which provides the scanning data to the third arrangement so as to generate the image.

87. The apparatus according to claim 86, wherein the scanning data includes the detected interference obtained at multiple transverse locations on the sample.

88. The apparatus according to claim 86, wherein the probe comprises a rotary junction and a fiber-optic catheter, and wherein the catheter is rotated at a speed higher than 30 revolutions per second.

89. The apparatus according to claim 72, wherein the second arrangement comprises a dual balanced receiver which is configured to remove an auto-correlation associated with the third radiation.

90. The apparatus according to claim 72, further comprising a third arrangement which is specifically configured to track the phase difference between at least one of:

the first electromagnetic radiation and the second electromagnetic radiation, or

the third electromagnetic radiation and the fourth electromagnetic radiation.

91. The apparatus according to claim 72, wherein a median of the spectrum varies substantially linearly over time, and wherein a rate of change of the median of the spectrum is at least 1000 nm/msec.

92. The apparatus according to claim 72, wherein the spectrum change over time repetitively with a repetition rate of at least 10 kHz.

93. The apparatus according to claim 72, wherein the first arrangement includes a spectral filter to vary the spectrum over time, and wherein the spectral filter includes a polygon scanner, a spectral separating arrangement that vary the spectrum over time, and an optical imaging arrangement which is configured to directly receive from the spectral separating arrangement one or more components of the interference, and converge and project the one or more components of the interference onto an image plane.

94. A method comprising:

providing a first electro-magnetic radiation to a sample and a second electro-magnetic radiation to a reference, wherein at least one of the first electro-magnetic radiation or the second electro-magnetic radiation has a spectrum whose mean frequency changes substantially continuously over time at a tuning speed that is greater than 100 Tera Hertz per millisecond; and

detecting an interference between at least one third radiation associated with the first radiation and a fourth radiation associated with the second radiation.

95. An apparatus comprising:

a first arrangement configured to provide first electro-magnetic radiation to a sample and a second electro-magnetic radiation to a reference, wherein a frequency of at least one of the first electromagnetic radiation or the second electromagnetic radiations provided by the first arrangement varies over time;

a second arrangement configured to shift the frequency of at least one of the first electro-magnetic radiation or the second electromagnetic radiation and further configured to at least partially reduce, differentiate or eliminate negative frequency components of the interference;

an interferometer interfering the first and second electro-magnetic radiations to produce an interference signal; and

a third arrangement configured to detect the interference between the first and second electro-magnetic radiations.