Optical coherence tomography system with dual optical coherence tomography probes

An OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) system comprising:

• an optical scope comprising a distal end;
• a first OCT probe;
• a second OCT probe, each of the first OCT probe and the second OCT probe mechanically attached to the optical scope, the first OCT probe and the second OCT probe being substantially paraxial and configured to focus on a same scanning area, the optical scope configured to optically image the same scanning area using the distal end, the same scanning area including a tissue surface,
• wherein the second OCT probe has a larger depth of field than the first OCT probe, the second OCT probe having a lower resolution than the first OCT probe such that the first OCT probe acquires structural images of the tissue surface, and the second OCT probe having a larger field-of-view than the first OCT probe, such that the second OCT probe acquires a surface contour of the tissue surface,
• wherein the optical scope is configured to image the same scanning area through a surgical access port, and the first OCT probe and the second OCT probe are configured to scan the same scanning area through the surgical access port;
• at least one OCT interferometer;
• a first optical coupler configured to optically couple the first OCT probe to the at least one OCT interferometer;
• a second optical coupler configured to optically couple the second OCT probe to the at least one OCT interferometer;
• at least one computing device configured to:
• combine output from each of the first OCT probe and the second OCT probe into combined output;
• and
• at least one display device in communication with the at least one computing device, the at least one display device configured to visually display the combined output from the first OCT probe and the second OCT probe,
• the at least one computing device further configured to:
• control the at least one display device to first render low resolution images from the second OCT probe to identify a region of interest including the surface contour of the tissue surface;
• then render high resolution images of the region of interest from the first OCT probe including the structural images of the tissue surface;
• and, thereafter,
• control the at least one display device to alternate between rendering higher resolution/lower depth of field OCT images, including the structural images of the tissue surface and lower resolution/higher depth of field OCT images including the surface contour of the tissue surface, to render a virtual three-dimensional image of the same scanning area.