A novel continuous time ternary encoding based SS-OCT calibration

In this paper we exhibit a low-complexity asynchronous sampling technique for calibration of swept source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) systems. In the proposed scheme, the amplitude content of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) signal is equalized by means of a square law envelope detector. Continuous time ternary encoding (CT-TE) is then performed on this constant amplitude MZI signal to generate a k-linear sampling clock used to non-uniform sample a simultaneously captured interferometer signal at the correct time instances. This scheme allows the SS-OCT system operator to determine the required number of points for image reconstruction without the need for hardware modification. Simulation shows tant amount results with Hilbert transform based calibration techniques, while maintaining a lower computational complexity rendering it suitable for real-time applications.