Apparatus and methods for high-speed and long depth range imaging using optical coherence tomography

An apparatus, comprising:

• a laser arrangement which is configured to provide a laser radiation, and including an optical cavity which comprises:
• a dispersive first arrangement which is configured to receive at least one first electro-magnetic radiation so as to provide at least one second electro-magnetic radiation,
• a dispersive second arrangement which is configured to receive at least one third electro-magnetic radiation so as to provide at least one fourth electro-magnetic radiation, and wherein the second and third radiations are related to one another,
• an active optical modulator second arrangement which is configured to receive and modulate the fourth radiation so as to provide the at least one first electro-magnetic radiation to the first arrangement, and wherein the laser radiation is associated with at least one of the first, second, third or fourth radiations, and
• a further active optical modulator fourth arrangement which is configured to:
• receive and modulate the second radiation so as to provide the at least one third electro-magnetic radiation to the first arrangement, and
• suppress a light radiation that travels through the first arrangement, which is different from the at least one second radiation;
• an interferometer arrangement which is configured to generate:
• i. a fifth electromagnetic radiation from the laser radiation in a sample arm,
• ii. a sixth electro-magnetic radiation from the laser radiation in a reference arm, and
• iii. an interference signal based on an interference between the fifth electromagnetic radiation and the sixth electro-magnetic radiation;
• a beam scanning arrangement configured to scan the fifth electro-magnetic radiation across at least one portion of at least one sample,
• wherein an interaction between the laser arrangement, the interferometer arrangement, and the beam scanning arrangement provides a three-dimensional measurement of an optical property of the at least one portion of the at least one sample;
• an analog-to-digital acquisition arrangement configured to obtain the interference signal based on an electronic clock signal;
• and
• an electronic signal generator configured to drive the second arrangement, wherein the electronic clock signal is phase-locked to the electronic signal generator.

A method for displaying a video stream regarding at least one structure, comprising:

• a) measuring four-dimensional interferometric data regarding different portions of at least one structure at different points in time, wherein the four-dimensional data describes at least one optical property of the at least one structure,
• wherein step (a) is performed using a laser arrangement which is configured to provide a laser radiation, and including an optical cavity which comprises:
• a dispersive optical waveguide first arrangement having first and second sides, and which is configured to receive and disperse (i) at least one first electromagnetic radiation received at the first side so as to provide at least one second electro-magnetic radiation, and (ii) at least one third electro-magnetic radiation received at the second side so as to provide at least one fourth electromagnetic radiation, wherein the first and second sides are different from one another, and wherein the second and third radiations are related to one another,
• an active optical modulator second arrangement which is configured to receive and modulate the fourth radiation so as to provide the at least one first electromagnetic radiation to the first arrangement, and
• a further active optical modulator fourth arrangement which is configured to:
• receive and modulate the second radiation so as to provide the at least one third electro-magnetic radiation to the first arrangement, and
• suppress a light radiation that travels through the first arrangement, which is different from the at least one second radiation;
• wherein the laser radiation is associated with at least one of the first, second, third or fourth radiations;
• b) transforming the four-dimensional interferometric data into two-dimensional video data;
• and
• c) displaying the video stream of the different portions of the at least one structure using the two-dimensional video data, wherein a latency of a performance of the measurement and the display is less than 1 second.

A method for displaying a video stream regarding at least one structure, comprising:

• a) measuring four-dimensional interferometric data regarding different portions of at least one structure at different points in time, wherein the four-dimensional data describes at least one optical property of the at least one structure, wherein the four-dimensional interferometric data is circularly wrapped in a particular spatial dimension;
• b) with a computer, transforming the four-dimensional interferometric data into two-dimensional video data by compressing the particular spatial dimension;
• and
• c) displaying the video stream of the different portions of the at least one structure using the two-dimensional video data;
• wherein step (a) is performed using a laser arrangement which is configured to provide a laser radiation, and including an optical cavity which comprises:
• a dispersive optical waveguide first arrangement having first and second sides, and which is configured to receive and disperse (i) at least one first electromagnetic radiation received at the first side so as to provide at least one second electro-magnetic radiation, and (ii) at least one third electro-magnetic radiation received at the second side so as to provide at least one fourth electromagnetic radiation, wherein the first and second sides are different from one another, and wherein the second and third radiations are related to one another, and
• an active optical modulator second arrangement which is configured to receive and modulate the fourth radiation so as to provide the at least one first electromagnetic radiation to the first arrangement, and
• a further active optical modulator fourth arrangement which is configured to:
• receive and modulate the second radiation so as to provide the at least one third electromagnetic radiation to the first arrangement, and
• suppress a light radiation that travels through the first arrangement, which is different from the at least one second radiation;
• wherein the laser radiation is associated with at least one of the first, second, third or fourth radiations.

A computer-accessible medium including software thereon for displaying a video stream regarding at least one structure, wherein, when the computer executes the software, the computer is configured to perform procedures comprising:

• a) measuring four-dimensional interferometric data regarding different portions of at least one structure at different points in time, wherein the four-dimensional data describes at least one optical property of the at least one structure,
• wherein step (a) is performed using a laser arrangement which is configured to provide a laser radiation, and including an optical cavity which comprises:
• a dispersive optical waveguide first arrangement having first and second sides, and which is configured to receive and disperse (i) at least one first electromagnetic radiation received at the first side so as to provide at least one second electro-magnetic radiation, and (ii) at least one third electro-magnetic radiation received at the second side so as to provide at least one fourth electromagnetic radiation, wherein the first and second sides are different from one another, and wherein the second and third radiations are related to one another,
• an active optical modulator second arrangement which is configured to receive and modulate the fourth radiation so as to provide the at least one first electromagnetic radiation to the first arrangement, and
• a further active optical modulator fourth arrangement which is configured to:
• receive and modulate the second radiation so as to provide the at least one third electro-magnetic radiation to the first arrangement, and
• suppress a light radiation that travels through the first arrangement, which is different from the at least one second radiation,
• wherein the laser radiation is associated with at least one of the first, second, third or fourth radiations;
• b) with a computer, transforming the four-dimensional interferometric data into two-dimensional video data;
• and
• c) displaying the video stream of the different portions of the at least one structure using the two-dimensional video data, wherein a latency of a performance of the measurement and the display is less than 1 second.