In vivo human retinal imaging by ultrahigh-speed spectral domain optical coherence tomography

Abstract

An ultrahigh-speed spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) system is presented that achieves acquisition rates of 29,300 depth profiles/s. The sensitivity of SD-OCT and time domain OCT (TD-OCT) are experimentally compared, demonstrating a 21.7-dB improvement of SD-OCT over TD-OCT. In vivo images of the human retina are presented, demonstrating the ability to acquire high-quality structural images with an axial resolution of $6 \mathit{\mu }\mathrm{m}$ at ultrahigh speed and with an ocular exposure level of less than $600 \mathit{\mu }\mathrm{W}$.