Graphics processing unit aided highly stable real-time spectral-domain optical coherence tomography at 1375 nm based on dual-coupled-line subtraction

Abstract

We have proposed and demonstrated a highly stable spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) system based on dual-coupled-line subtraction. The proposed system achieved an ultrahigh axial resolution of 5 mu m by combining four kinds of spectrally shifted superluminescent diodes at 1375 nm. Using the dual-coupled-line subtraction method, we made the system insensitive to fluctuations of the optical intensity that can possibly arise in various clinical and experimental conditions. The imaging stability was verified by perturbing the intensity by bending an optical fiber, our system being the only one to reduce the noise among the conventional systems. Also, the proposed method required less computational complexity than conventional mean- and median-line subtraction. The real-time SD-OCT scheme was implemented by graphics processing unit aided signal processing. This is the first reported reduction method for A-line-wise fixed-pattern noise in a single-shot image without estimating the DC component.