Systems and Methods for the Spectral Calibration of Swept Source Optical Coherence Tomography Systems

Abstract

This dissertation relates to the transition of the state of the art of swept source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) systems to a new realm in which the image acquisition speed is improved by an order of magnitude. With the aid of a better quality imaging technology, the speed-up factor will considerably shorten the eye-exam clinical visits which in turn improves the patient and doctor interaction experience. These improvements will directly lower associated medical costs for eye-clinics and patients worldwide. There are several other embodiments closely related to Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) that could benefit from the ideas presented in this dissertation including: optical coherence microscopy (OCM), full-field OCT (FF-OCT), optical coherence elastography (OCE), optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A), anatomical OCT (aOCT), optical coherence photoacoustic microscopy (OC-PAM), micro optical coherence tomography (µ OCT), among others. In recent decades, OCT has established itself as the de-facto imaging process that most ophthalmologists refer to in their clinical practices. In a broader sense, optical coherence tomography is used in applications when low penetration and high resolution are desired. These applications include different fields of biomedical sciences including cardiology, dermatology, and pulmonary related sciences. Many other industrial applications including quality control and precise measurements have also been reported that are related to the OCT technology. Every new iteration of OCT technology has always come about with advanced signal processing and data acquisition algorithms using mixed-signal architectures, calibration and signal processing techniques. The existing industrial practices towards data acquisition, processing, and image creation relies on conventional signal processing design flows, which extensively employ continuous/discrete techniques that are both time-consuming and costly. The ideas presented in this dissertation can take the technology to a new dimension of quality of service.