Speckle in optical coherence tomography: an overview

Joseph M. Schmitt; S. H. Xiang; Kin Man Yung

doi:10.1117/12.341428

4 March 1999 Speckle in optical coherence tomography: an overview

Joseph M. Schmitt, S. H. Xiang, Kin Man Yung

Proceedings Volume 3726, Saratov Fall Meeting '98: Light Scattering Technologies for Mechanics, Biomedicine, and Material Science; (1999) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.341428
Event: Saratov Fall Meeting '98: Light Scattering Technologies for Mechanics, Biomedicine, and Material Science, 1998, Saratov, Russian Federation

Abstract

Speckle arises as a natural consequent of the limited spatial-frequency bandwidth of the interference signals measured in optical coherence tomography (OCT). In images of highly scattering biological tissues, speckle has a dual role as a source of noise and as a carrier of information about tissue microstructure. The first half of this paper provides an overview of the origin, statistical properties, and classification of speckle in OCT. The concepts of signal-carrying and signal-degrading speckle are defined in terms of the phase and amplitude disturbances of the sample beam. In the remaining half of the paper, four speckle- reduction methods--polarization diversity, spatial compounding, frequency compounding and digital signal processing--are discussed and the potential effectiveness of each method is analyzed briefly with the aid of examples. Finally, remaining problems that merit further research are suggested.

Citation Download Citation

Joseph M. Schmitt, S. H. Xiang, and Kin Man Yung "Speckle in optical coherence tomography: an overview", Proc. SPIE 3726, Saratov Fall Meeting '98: Light Scattering Technologies for Mechanics, Biomedicine, and Material Science, (4 March 1999); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.341428

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