High-speed, high-resolution Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography system for retinal imaging in the 1060 nm wavelength region.

A high-speed (47,000 A-scans/s), ultrahigh axial resolution Fourier domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) system for retinal imaging at similar to 1060 nm, based on a 1024 pixel linear array, 47 kHz readout rate InGaAs camera is presented. When interfaced with a custom superluminescent diode (lambda(c) = 1020 nm, Delta lambda = 108 nm, P-out = 9 mW), the system provides 3.3 mu m axial OCT resolution at the surface of biological tissue, similar to 4.5 mu m in vivo in rat retina, similar to 5.7 mu m in vivo in human retina, and 110 dB sensitivity for 870 mu W incident power and 21 us integration time. Retinal tomograms acquired in vivo from a human volunteer and a rat animal model show clear visualization of all intraretinal layer and increased penetration into the choroid. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America