Compact optical coherence tomography system using partially delayed Fizeau interferometer

Summary form only given. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an emerging technology for noninvasive imaging of biological tissue with high spatial resolution. Extensions of OCT technology have been developed that permit imaging velocity or birefringence and utilization with endoscopes, mainly based on a Michelson interferometer. A simple, small and stable interferometer must be developed to realize compact OCT systems. We have studied a partially delayed Fizeau interferometer (PDFI) as a compact interferometer (Ikari et al, Proc. Opt. Soc. of Japan Symp. Biomedical Optics vol. 1, pp. 30-31, 2000). This report introduces a compact OCT system using PDFI. Fundamental characteristics of spatial resolution and OCT images of biological materials are shown.