Rolling phase modulation regime for dynamic full field OCT

TL;DR

This paper introduces Rolling-Phase DFFOCT, a novel imaging method that enhances image quality and contrast in full-field OCT by slowly scanning the reference arm over large phase ranges, enabling better resolution of cellular structures.

Contribution

The paper presents a new implementation of DFFOCT with a rolling-phase approach that reduces phase noise and fringe artifacts, improving image quality and contrast extraction.

Findings

Superior image quality demonstrated experimentally.

Enhanced resolution of subcellular structures.

Ability to extract static and dynamic contrast simultaneously.

Abstract

Dynamic full-field optical coherence tomography (DFFOCT) has recently emerged as an invaluable label-free microscopy technique, owing to its sensitivity to cell activity, as well as speed and sectioning ability. However, the quality of DFFOCT images are often degraded due to phase noise and fringe artifacts. In this work, we present a new implementation named Rolling-Phase (RP) DFFOCT, in which the reference arm is slowly scanned over magnitudes exceeding 2$\pi$. We demonstrate mathematically and experimentally that it shows superior image quality while enabling to extract both static and dynamic contrast simultaneously. We showcase RP DFFOCT on monkey retinal explant, and demonstrate its ability to better resolve subcellular structures, including intranuclear activity.