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Development and Application of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)

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A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Optics and Lasers".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 January 2017) | Viewed by 108960

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Michael Pircher

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Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
Interests: optical coherence tomography; adaptive optics; polarization sensitive imaging; functional imaging
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a powerful non-invasive optical imaging technique that provides cross sectional images of turbid and translucent samples with high axial resolution. In this year, 2016, the technology celebrates its 25^th anniversary. Since the beginning of OCT, the technology has evolved rapidly. Thereby, the imaging speed has been increased from roughly one depth scan (A-scan) to several millions of A-scans per second. This development paved the way for new applications. The main field of application can be found in the field of ophthalmology where OCT is meanwhile regarded as routine diagnostic tool. Other applications include cardiovascular research, dermatology, small animal imaging, material sciences and many more. In addition, many extensions of the technique such as Doppler OCT, polarization sensitive OCT, OCT angiography, OCT elastography, and coherence microscopy, just to name a few, have been introduced. Current research focuses on these extensions, as well as on the combination with other imaging modalities.

This Special Issue of the journal Applied Sciences, “Development and Application of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)” is dedicated to cover some of the recent aspects in the development, as well as in the application, of OCT.

Prof. Dr. Michael Pircher
Guest Editor

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Keywords

Optical coherence tomography
Optical coherence angiography
Optical coherence microscopy
Polarization sensitive OCT
Doppler OCT
Adaptive optics
Dermatology
Ophthalmic imaging
Non destructive testing

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Published Papers (13 papers)

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Editorial

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152 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Special Feature Development and Application of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)

by Michael Pircher

Appl. Sci. 2017, 7(10), 1507; https://doi.org/10.3390/app7101507 - 13 Oct 2017

Viewed by 2796

Abstract

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the introduction of OCT, the special feature issue entitled “Development and Application of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)” had been initiated [...]
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(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development and Application of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT))

Research

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10285 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Needle Segmentation in Volumetric Optical Coherence Tomography Images for Ophthalmic Microsurgery

by Mingchuan Zhou, Hessam Roodaki, Abouzar Eslami, Guang Chen, Kai Huang, Mathias Maier, Chris P. Lohmann, Alois Knoll and Mohammad Ali Nasseri

Appl. Sci. 2017, 7(8), 748; https://doi.org/10.3390/app7080748 - 25 Jul 2017

Cited by 24 | Viewed by 6375

Abstract

Needle segmentation is a fundamental step for needle reconstruction and image-guided surgery. Although there has been success stories in needle segmentation for non-microsurgeries, the methods cannot be directly extended to ophthalmic surgery due to the challenges bounded to required spatial resolution. As the ophthalmic surgery is performed by finer and smaller surgical instruments in micro-structural anatomies, specifically in retinal domains, difficulties are raised for delicate operation and sensitive perception. To address these challenges, in this paper we investigate needle segmentation in ophthalmic operation on 60 Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) cubes captured during needle injection surgeries on ex-vivo pig eyes. Furthermore, we developed two different approaches, a conventional method based on morphological features (MF) and a specifically designed full convolution neural networks (FCN) method, moreover, we evaluate them on the benchmark for needle segmentation in the volumetric OCT images. The experimental results show that FCN method has a better segmentation performance based on four evaluation metrics while MF method has a short inference time, which provides valuable reference for future works. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development and Application of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT))

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3319 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Temperature Variations during Sintering of Metal Ceramic Tooth Prostheses Investigated Non-Destructively with Optical Coherence Tomography

by Cosmin Sinescu, Adrian Bradu, Virgil-Florin Duma, Florin Topala, Meda Negrutiu and Adrian Gh. Podoleanu

Appl. Sci. 2017, 7(6), 552; https://doi.org/10.3390/app7060552 - 26 May 2017

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 4978

Abstract

Calibration loss of ovens used in sintering metal ceramic prostheses leads to stress and cracks in the material of the prostheses fabricated, and ultimately to failure of the dental treatment. Periodic calibration may not be sufficient to prevent such consequences. Evaluation methods based on firing supplemental control samples are subjective, time-consuming, and rely entirely on the technician’s skills. The aim of this study was to propose an alternative procedure for such evaluations. Fifty prostheses were sintered in a ceramic oven at a temperature lower, equal to or larger than the temperature prescribed by the manufacturer. A non-destructive imaging method, swept source (SS) optical coherence tomography (OCT) was used to evaluate comparatively the internal structure of prostheses so fabricated. A quantitative assessment procedure is proposed, based on en-face OCT images acquired at similar depths inside the samples. Differences in granulation and reflectivity depending on the oven temperature are used to establish rules-of-thumb on judging the correct calibration of the oven. OCT evaluations made on a regular basis allow an easy and objective monitoring of correct settings in the sintering process. This method can serve rapid identification of the need to recalibrate the oven and avoid producing prostheses with defects. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development and Application of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT))

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3659 KiB

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Improved Imaging of Magnetically Labeled Cells Using Rotational Magnetomotive Optical Coherence Tomography

by Peter Cimalla, Julia Walther, Claudia Mueller, Seba Almedawar, Bernd Rellinghaus, Dierk Wittig, Marius Ader, Mike O. Karl, Richard H. W. Funk, Michael Brand and Edmund Koch

Appl. Sci. 2017, 7(5), 444; https://doi.org/10.3390/app7050444 - 27 Apr 2017

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 5802

Abstract

In this paper, we present a reliable and robust method for magnetomotive optical coherence tomography (MM-OCT) imaging of single cells labeled with iron oxide particles. This method employs modulated longitudinal and transverse magnetic fields to evoke alignment and rotation of anisotropic magnetic structures in the sample volume. Experimental evidence suggests that magnetic particles assemble themselves in elongated chains when exposed to a permanent magnetic field. Magnetomotion in the intracellular space was detected and visualized by means of 3D OCT as well as laser speckle reflectometry as a 2D reference imaging method. Our experiments on mesenchymal stem cells embedded in agar scaffolds show that the magnetomotive signal in rotational MM-OCT is significantly increased by a factor of ~3 compared to previous pulsed MM-OCT, although the solenoid’s power consumption was 16 times lower. Finally, we use our novel method to image ARPE-19 cells, a human retinal pigment epithelium cell line. Our results permit magnetomotive imaging with higher sensitivity and the use of low power magnetic fields or larger working distances for future three-dimensional cell tracking in target tissues and organs. Full article

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6430 KiB

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Flow Measurement by Lateral Resonant Doppler Optical Coherence Tomography in the Spectral Domain

by Julia Walther and Edmund Koch

Appl. Sci. 2017, 7(4), 382; https://doi.org/10.3390/app7040382 - 11 Apr 2017

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4754

Abstract

In spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), any transverse motion component of a detected obliquely moving sample results in a nonlinear relationship between the Doppler phase shift and the axial sample velocity restricting phase-resolved Doppler OCT (PR-DOCT). The size of the deviation from the linear relation depends on the amount of the transverse velocity component, given by the Doppler angle, and the height of the absolute sample velocity. Especially for very small Doppler angles between the horizontal and flow direction, and high flow velocities, the detected Doppler phase shift approaches a limiting value, making an unambiguous measurement of the axial sample velocity by PR-DOCT impossible. To circumvent this limitation, we propose a new method for resonant Doppler flow quantification in spectral domain OCT, where the scanner movement velocity is matched with the transverse velocity component of the sample motion similar to a tracking shot, where the camera is moved with respect to the sample. Consequently, the influence of the transverse velocity component of the tracked moving particles on the Doppler phase shift is negligible and the linear relation between the phase shift and the axial velocity component can be considered for flow velocity calculations. The proposed method is verified using flow phantoms on the basis of 1% Intralipid solution and diluted human blood. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development and Application of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT))

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25716 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography for Non-Destructive Testing of Protection Coatings on Metal Substrates

by Marcel Lenz, Cristian Mazzon, Christopher Dillmann, Nils C. Gerhardt, Hubert Welp, Michael Prange and Martin R. Hofmann

Appl. Sci. 2017, 7(4), 364; https://doi.org/10.3390/app7040364 - 6 Apr 2017

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 5320

Abstract

In this paper we demonstrate that optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a powerful tool for the non-destructive investigation of transparent coatings on metal substrates. We show that OCT provides additional information which the common practice electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) cannot supply. First, coating layer thicknesses were measured and compared with reference measurements using a magnetic inductive (MI) measurement technique. After this validation of the OCT measurements, a customized sectioned sample was created to test the possibility to measure coating thicknesses with underlying corrosion, which cannot be analyzed accurately by MI or EIS measurements. Finally, we demonstrate the benefit of OCT on a standard sample. The OCT measurements provide the correct coating layer thickness with high lateral resolution and even enable metal and corrosion layers to be distinguished from each other. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development and Application of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT))

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2240 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Scan-Less Line Field Optical Coherence Tomography, with Automatic Image Segmentation, as a Measurement Tool for Automotive Coatings

by Samuel Lawman, Bryan M. Williams, Jinke Zhang, Yao-Chun Shen and Yalin Zheng

Appl. Sci. 2017, 7(4), 351; https://doi.org/10.3390/app7040351 - 1 Apr 2017

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 6765

Abstract

The measurement of the thicknesses of layers is important for the quality assurance of industrial coating systems. Current measurement techniques only provide a limited amount of information. Here, we show that spectral domain Line Field (LF) Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is able to return to the user a cross sectional B-Scan image in a single shot with no mechanical moving parts. To reliably extract layer thicknesses from such images of automotive paint systems, we present an automatic graph search image segmentation algorithm. To show that the algorithm works independently of the OCT device, the measurements are repeated with a separate time domain Full Field (FF) OCT system. This gives matching mean thickness values within the standard deviations of the measured thicknesses across each B-Scan image. The combination of an LF-OCT with graph search segmentation is potentially a powerful technique for the quality assurance of non-opaque industrial coating layers. Full article

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1998 KiB

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Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) for Time-Resolved Imaging of Alveolar Dynamics in Mechanically Ventilated Rats

by Christian Schnabel, Maria Gaertner and Edmund Koch

Appl. Sci. 2017, 7(3), 287; https://doi.org/10.3390/app7030287 - 15 Mar 2017

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 5219

Abstract

Though artificial ventilation is an essential life-saving treatment, the mechanical behavior of lung tissue at the alveolar level is still unknown. Therefore, we need to understand the tissue response during artificial ventilation at this microscale in order to develop new and more protective ventilation methods. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) combined with intravital microscopy (IVM) is a promising tool for visualizing lung tissue dynamics with a high spatial and temporal resolution in uninterruptedly ventilated rats. We present a measurement setup using a custom-made animal ventilator and a gating technique for data acquisition of time-resolved sequences. Full article

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19601 KiB

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Full-Field Optical Coherence Tomography as a Diagnosis Tool: Recent Progress with Multimodal Imaging

by Olivier Thouvenin, Clement Apelian, Amir Nahas, Mathias Fink and Claude Boccara

Appl. Sci. 2017, 7(3), 236; https://doi.org/10.3390/app7030236 - 2 Mar 2017

Cited by 32 | Viewed by 12714

Abstract

Full-field optical coherence tomography (FF-OCT) is a variant of OCT that is able to register 2D en face views of scattering samples at a given depth. Thanks to its superior resolution, it can quickly reveal information similar to histology without the need to physically section the sample. Sensitivity and specificity levels of diagnosis performed with FF-OCT are 80% to 95% of the equivalent histological diagnosis performances and could therefore benefit from improvement. Therefore, multimodal systems have been designed to increase the diagnostic performance of FF-OCT. In this paper, we will discuss which contrasts can be measured with such multimodal systems in the context of ex vivo biological tissue examination. We will particularly emphasize three multimodal combinations to measure the tissue mechanics, dynamics, and molecular content respectively. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development and Application of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT))

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3256 KiB

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Extending the Effective Ranging Depth of Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography by Spatial Frequency Domain Multiplexing

by Tong Wu, Qingqing Wang, Youwen Liu, Jiming Wang, Chongjun He and Xiaorong Gu

Appl. Sci. 2016, 6(11), 360; https://doi.org/10.3390/app6110360 - 17 Nov 2016

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 7299

Abstract

We present a spatial frequency domain multiplexing method for extending the imaging depth range of a spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SDOCT) system without any expensive device. This method uses two galvo scanners with different pivot-offset distances in two independent reference arms for spatial frequency modulation and multiplexing. The spatial frequency contents corresponding to different depth regions of the sample can be shifted to different frequency bands. The spatial frequency domain multiplexing SDOCT system provides an approximately 1.9-fold increase in the effective ranging depth compared with that of a conventional full-range SDOCT system. The reconstructed images of phantom and biological tissue demonstrate the expected increase in ranging depth. The parameters choice criterion for this method is discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development and Application of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT))

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Review

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6879 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperReview

Can OCT Angiography Be Made a Quantitative Blood Measurement Tool?

by Jun Zhu, Conrad W. Merkle, Marcel T. Bernucci, Shau Poh Chong and Vivek J. Srinivasan

Appl. Sci. 2017, 7(7), 687; https://doi.org/10.3390/app7070687 - 4 Jul 2017

Cited by 37 | Viewed by 8649

Abstract

Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA) refers to a powerful class of OCT scanning protocols and algorithms that selectively enhance the imaging of blood vessel lumens, based mainly on the motion and scattering of red blood cells (RBCs). Though OCTA is widely used in clinical and basic science applications for visualization of perfused blood vessels, OCTA is still primarily a qualitative tool. However, more quantitative hemodynamic information would better delineate disease mechanisms, and potentially improve the sensitivity for detecting early stages of disease. Here, we take a broader view of OCTA in the context of microvascular hemodynamics and light scattering. Paying particular attention to the unique challenges presented by capillaries versus larger supplying and draining vessels, we critically assess opportunities and challenges in making OCTA a quantitative tool. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development and Application of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT))

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7446 KiB

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Polarization Sensitive Optical Coherence Tomography: A Review of Technology and Applications

by Bernhard Baumann

Appl. Sci. 2017, 7(5), 474; https://doi.org/10.3390/app7050474 - 4 May 2017

Cited by 124 | Viewed by 18791

Abstract

Polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) is an imaging technique based on light scattering. PS-OCT performs rapid two- and three-dimensional imaging of transparent and translucent samples with micrometer scale resolution. PS-OCT provides image contrast based on the polarization state of backscattered light and has been applied in many biomedical fields as well as in non-medical fields. Thereby, the polarimetric approach enabled imaging with enhanced contrast compared to standard OCT and the quantitative assessment of sample polarization properties. In this article, the basic methodological principles, the state of the art of PS-OCT technologies, and important applications of the technique are reviewed in a concise yet comprehensive way. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development and Application of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT))

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6886 KiB

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Dental Applications of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) in Cariology

by Hartmut Schneider, Kyung-Jin Park, Matthias Häfer, Claudia Rüger, Gerhard Schmalz, Felix Krause, Jana Schmidt, Dirk Ziebolz and Rainer Haak

Appl. Sci. 2017, 7(5), 472; https://doi.org/10.3390/app7050472 - 3 May 2017

Cited by 60 | Viewed by 17612

Abstract

Across all medical disciplines, therapeutic interventions are based on previously acquired diagnostic information. In cariology, which includes the detection and assessment of the disease “caries” and its lesions, as well as non-invasive to invasive treatment and caries prevention, visual inspection and radiology are routinely used as diagnostic tools. However, the specificity and sensitivity of these standard methods are still unsatisfactory and the detection of defects is often afflicted with a time delay. Numerous novel methods have been developed to improve the unsatisfactory diagnostic possibilities in this specialized medical field. These newer techniques have not yet found widespread acceptance in clinical practice, which might be explained by the generated numerical or color-coded output data that are not self-explanatory. With optical coherence tomography (OCT), an innovative image-based technique has become available that has considerable potential in supporting the routine assessment of teeth in the future. The received cross-sectional images are easy to interpret and can be processed. In recent years, numerous applications of OCT have been evaluated in cariology beginning with the diagnosis of different defects up to restoration assessment and their monitoring, or the visualization of individual treatment steps. Based on selected examples, this overview outlines the possibilities and limitations of this technique in cariology and restorative dentistry, which pertain to the most clinical relevant fields of dentistry. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development and Application of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT))

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