Method for real time colour Doppler optical coherence tomography

Abstract

Summary form only. Colour Doppler optical coherence tomography (CDOCT) has recently shown great promise in two-dimensional, high-spatial-resolution (on the order of tens of microns) tomographic velocity mapping of blood in living tissue. CDOCT is based on optical interference in a scanning Michelson interferometer under broadband illumination. When a scattering object is in motion, it generates a signal in the detection circuit, an interferogram, the envelope of which gives the spatial reflectivity, and the frequency of which is proportional to the sum of the object's velocity and that of the reference arm scatter. In this paper, we present a novel detection scheme, based on an electronic phase-locked loop (PLL).