High speed no moving parts optical coherence tomography system

Dynamic tissue analysis using real-time measurements can lead to advanced diagnostics, particularly where processes evolve with time. We introduce a no moving parts optical coherence tomography (OCT) system that rapidly acquires sample data at a microseconds/data point sampling rate. The basic principle relies on using acousto-optic or Bragg cell devices. The proposed OCT system has attractive features of an acousto-optic scanning heterodyne interferometer and an acousto-optic variable optical delay line (ODL) operating in reflective mode. Experiments described demonstrate our high speed acousto-optically tuned optical scanning probe concept where optical delay lines can be selected at sub-microsecond speeds.