Broadband Light Source for Optical Coherence Tomography

描述(由申请人提供)：该计划将开发一种用于光学相干断层扫描(OCT)的新型光源。OCT有可能在身体症状和不可逆转的病理变化发生之前发现和诊断疾病的早期阶段。现有OCT技术的主要缺点是分辨率相对较低，运动伪影发生率较高。为了提高轴向分辨率，需要具有非常宽的光谱(几百纳米)的光源。运动伪影的减少可以通过高速实时成像来实现，这反过来又需要高功率光源。市场上没有满足这两个要求的光源。我们计划开发和测试的超连续谱光源有望显示出更高的功率、光谱带宽和噪声，从而允许更好的分辨率和灵敏度。这项技术有望从根本上提高OCT成像系统的分辨率，这是体内诊断癌症和癌前疾病所必需的。它将对癌症引发的公共卫生问题产生重大影响。该项目的第一阶段将通过构建一个工作在1650 nm水传输窗口的原型光源，并在商业OCT系统中进行测试，来确定所提出的方法的可行性。在该项目的第二阶段，我们将全面开发这一超宽带光谱源的新专利技术，并将这一开发带入商业化阶段。这项技术可以为许多行业带来好处。除了在医疗设备中的明显应用外，它还可以用于食品和制药行业、测试设备以及环境监测和工业安全。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed program will develop a novel light source for optical coherence tomography (OCT). OCT has the potential to detect and diagnose early stages of disease before physical symptoms and irreversible pathological changes occur. The major drawbacks of the existing OCT technologies are a relatively low resolution and high rate of motion artifacts. In order to increase the axial resolution, light sources with the very broad spectrum (several hundred nanometers) are required. The reduction of motion artifacts can be achieved through high-speed real time imaging, which in turn requires high power light sources. There are no light sources on the market that would satisfy these 2 requirements. The Supercontinuum light source we propose to develop and test is expected to exhibit superior power, spectral bandwidth, and noise, and therefore allow better resolution and sensitivity. This technology promises to produce a fundamental improvement in resolution of OCT imaging systems necessary for in-vivo diagnose of cancer and pre-cancerous conditions. It will have a major impact on the public health issues arising from cancer. Phase I of this project will determine the feasibility of the proposed approach by construction a prototype light source operating in 1650nm water transmission window, and testing it in a commercial OCT system. During Phase II of this project, we will fully develop this novel proprietary technology of ultra-broadband spectral sources, and bring this development to the stage of commercialization. There are a number of industries that this technology could provide benefits to. Besides obvious applications in medical devices, it can be used in food and pharmaceutical industries, test equipment, as well as for environmental monitoring and industrial safety.