Numerical method for axial motion artifact correction in retinal spectral-domain optical coherence tomography.

A numerical method that compensates image distortions caused by random fluctuations of the distance to an object in spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD OCT) has been proposed and verified experimentally. The proposed method is based on the analysis of the phase shifts between adjacent scans that are caused by micrometer-scale displacements and the subsequent compensation for the displacements through phase-frequency correction in the spectral space. The efficiency of the method is demonstrated in model experiments with harmonic and random movements of a scattering object as well as during in vivo imaging of the retina of the human eye.

Hybrid M-mode-like OCT imaging of three-dimensional microvasculature in vivo using reference-free processing of complex valued B-scans.

We propose a novel OCT-based method for visualizing microvasculature in three-dimension using reference-free processing of individual complex valued B-scans with highly overlapped A-scans. In the lateral direction of such a B-scan, the amplitude and phase of speckles corresponding to vessel regions exhibit faster variability and, thus, can be detected without comparison with other B-scans recorded in the same plane. This method combines elements of several existing OCT angiographic approaches and exhibits: (1) enhanced robustness with respect to bulk tissue motion with frequencies up to tens of Hz, (2) resolution of microcirculation images equal to that of structural images, and (3) possibility of quantifying the vessels in terms of their decorrelation rates.