Endoscopic and Second Harmonic Optical Coherence Tomography

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a§noninvasive, noncontact imaging modality that uses§coherent gating to obtain high-resolution§cross-sectional images of tissue microstructure. § This book focuses on endoscopic OCT diagnosis. §Because of high-resolution ability of OCT technology,§its endoscopic diagnosis aims to perform optical§biopsy without damaging the tissue, detect early§stage diseases and monitor the healing effect after§surgery. The organs such as human vessel, vocal§cord, gastrointestinal track and airway are§investigated. In order to access these organs, four§OCT endoscopes are designed to deliver infrared light§to the region of interest. § Additionally, a second harmonic spectrometer based§OCT is designed to increase OCT image contrast. With§the contrast enhancement from second harmonic§generation, the structure of highly organized tissue,§like collagen, is obtained. This information is§complementary to the standard OCT. Second harmonic§OCT has the potential to provide molecular contrast§for in vivo clinical application.