Ultrafast optical tomography systems using coherence agility

Described are three types of optical imaging systems based on source coherence agility. On axis ultrafast microsecond sub-surface imaging is achieved by use of a broadband low coherence optical source to implement fast Doppler time domain optical coherence tomography (OCT). This system is formed as a combination of a fast scan acousto-optically implemented variable optical delay line with a single acousto-optic (AO) Bragg cell optical heterodyne interferometer. A second imaging system is introduced with a no-moving parts probe design and fast microsecond speed optical spatial scanning along one dimension implemented using a fixed wavelength high coherence source with a single Bragg cell AO interferometer. The third design involves realization of a spectral domain OCT system implemented via the use of a tunable laser in the proposed single AO cell heterodyne interferometer.