Optical Signal Transmission through Masked Aperture to Extend the Depth of Focus in Optical Coherence Tomography

Abstract

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) imaging technique has emerged as a non- or minimally invasive modality in the clinical pathogenesis such as deep tissue examining and optical biopsy etc. The OCT imaging increases the Depth of Focus (DoF) by devising mechanisms to increase an Optical Transfer Function (OTF) of the imaging system. This is achieved through an apodization technique on the surface of lens in conjugation with the femtosecond Bessel-type laser beam. An investigation on postulation of OTF through a masked aperture, or specifically a micro-dot is investigated to measure variations of intensity profile at the optical coordinates in the radial as well as axial directions. The intensity variations in the radial and axial coordinates are calibrated to obtain the information, which significantly helps in devising of OCT imaging system. A theoretical investigation of OTF matching the experimental relationship between spot size and DoF in response to obscuration ratio is presented in this paper. This mathematical approach could be applied to different types of masking functions by meticulously exploring the parameters of optical coordinates.