Methods, systems and computer program products for removing undesired artifacts in fourier domain optical coherence tomography (FDOCT) systems using continuous phase modulation and related phase modulators

A Fourier domain optical coherence tomography (FDOCT) interferometer comprising a variable phase modulator configured to introduce a variable phase delay between a reference arm and a sample arm of the FDOCT interferometer using continuous phase modulation, wherein the FDOCT interferometer comprises a Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SDOCT) interferometer, the SDOCT interferometer being further configured to:

• introduce a variable phase delay between a reference arm and a sample arm of the SDOCT interferometer using linear continuous phase modulation,
• shift a phase in the reference arm or the sample arm linearly over a round trip delay of 2φ=2π radians;
• integrate a spectral interferometric signal out of four evenly spaced sequential continuous phase shifts of 2φ=π/2 radians to provide a complex spectral interferogram;
• and
• inverse transform the complex interferogram to provide an A-scan free the undesired artifacts.

A Fourier domain optical coherence tomography (FDOCT) interferometer comprising a variable phase modulator configured to introduce a variable phase delay between a reference arm and a sample arm of the FDOCT interferometer using continuous phase modulation, wherein the FDOCT interferometer comprises a Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SDOCT) interferometer, the SDOCT interferometer being further configured to:

• introduce a variable phase delay between a reference arm and a sample arm of the SDOCT interferometer using sinusoidal continuous phase modulation;
• shift a phase in one of the reference arm or the sample arm sinusoidally in a repetitive manner;
• integrate a spectral interferometric signal over four evenly spaced sequential quarter periods of the sinusoidal continuous phase modulation to provide a complex spectral interferogram;
• and
• inverse transform the complex spectral interferogram to provide an A-scan free of undesired artifacts.

A computer program product removing undesired artifacts in Fourier domain optical coherence tomography (FDOCT) systems using continuous phase modulation, the computer program product comprising:

• computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied in the medium, the computer readable program code comprising:
• computer readable program code configured to introduce a variable phase delay between a reference arm and a sample arm of an FDOCT interferometer using continuous phase modulation;
• computer readable program code configured to generate two or more spectral interferograms having different phase delay integration times;
• and
• computer readable program code configured to combine the spectral interferograms using signal processing to remove undesired artifacts.