Optical coherence tomography for biological imaging

A catheter for use with optical coherence tomography, comprising:

• an elongate catheter body;
• an optical fiber extending from a proximal end to a distal end of the elongate catheter body, the optical fiber fixed to the elongate catheter body near the near a distal end of the elongate catheter body, wherein the optical fiber provides a common path for optical radiation reflected from a reference and a target;
• and
• a handle attached to the proximal end of the elongate catheter body, the handle configured to allow rotation of the elongate catheter body and the optical fiber relative to the handle about a longitudinal axis of the elongate catheter body.

A method of conducting optical coherence tomography, comprising:

• transmitting optical radiation from a source through an optical fiber, the optical fiber extending from a proximal end to a distal end of an elongate catheter body, the optical fiber fixed to the elongate catheter body near the distal end of the elongate catheter body;
• transmitting the optical radiation from the optical fiber to a first position on a target;
• transmitting optical radiation reflected from the target and reflected from a reference along a common path in the optical fiber to a detector;
• receiving the reflected optical radiation at the detector;
• generating a first image of the first position of the target based upon the reflected optical radiation received by the detector;
• and
• manually rotating the elongate catheter body and the optical fiber about a longitudinal axis of the elongate catheter body such that a second image from a second position on the target can be obtained.