This type of mirror is commonly found in non-imaging applications, such as flashlights, where it surrounds the light bulb to direct the light in one direction. To address these limitations, the researchers used an optical design that incorporated a parabolic mirror. Another challenge is that OCT images contain high levels of random noise, called speckle, which can obscure biomedically important details. “The hardware we designed to perform the technique can also be readily miniaturized into small probes or endoscopes to access the gastrointestinal tract and other parts of the body.”Ĭaption: The new method produces highly detailed images that reveal features difficult to observe with traditional OCT as shown in these images of a fruit fly head.Īlthough OCT has proven useful both in clinical applications and biomedical research, it is difficult to acquire high-resolution OCT images over a wide field of view in all directions simultaneously due to fundamental limitations imposed by optical beam propagation. “We envision this approach being applied in a wide variety of biomedical imaging applications, such as in vivo diagnostic imaging of the human eye or skin,” said research team co-leader Joseph A. “We developed a new and exciting extension, featuring novel hardware combined with a new computational 3D image reconstruction algorithm to address some well-known limitations of the imaging technique.” “OCT is a volumetric imaging technique widely used in ophthalmology and other branches of medicine,” said first author Kevin C.
#OCT OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY SKIN#
Although it is commonly used for ophthalmology applications, the imaging method can also be used to image many other parts of the body such as the skin and inside the ears, mouth, arteries and gastrointestinal tract. OCT uses light to provide high-resolution 3D images without requiring any contrast agents or labels. Using various biological samples, they show that 3D OCRT produces highly detailed images that reveal features difficult to observe with traditional OCT. In Optica, Optica Publishing Group’s journal for high-impact research, the researchers from Duke University describe the new technique, which they call 3D optical coherence refraction tomography (3D OCRT). Image Credit: Kevin Zhou, Duke University They used the new approach to image a zebrafish larva. Caption: Researchers developed an enhanced version of OCT that can image biomedical samples at higher contrast and resolution over a wider 3D field of view than was previously possible.