High-Quality Tissue Imaging Using a Catheter-Based Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomography Systems With an Integrated Semiconductor Optical Amplifier

We present the analysis and characteristics of an optical fiber catheter-based swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) system for tissue imaging. A quadrature Mach-Zehnder interferometer based on multiport fiber couplers and a semiconductor optical amplifier were employed in our SS-OCT system in order to increase the signal-to-noise ratio, therefore improving image quality deeper within the tissue. We demonstrate OCT images of human skin and arterial tissue acquired with our OCT engine. The results show that this OCT system is an effective imaging modality for real-time diagnosis and in vivo biological applications.