Optical coherence tomography based projected index computed tomography

Abstract

Projected index computed tomography (PICT) is an emerging noninvasive imaging technique that can provide tomographic mapping of sample's refractive index. In this paper, we report a PICT system developed on the basis of a fiber-optic OCT system. The tomographic mapping is reconstructed with convolution back projection algorithm using a series of angular projection data collected by optical coherence tomography (OCT) at sequential orientations. Measurement of refractive index distribution of a glass tube is carried out. The result shows that the developed system has high resolution and sensitivity to discriminate tube boundaries. With index information involved, the reconstructed PICT image is free of distortions, which are inherent artifacts of conventional OCT image.