IEEE PHOTONICS TECHNOLOGY LETTERS, VOL. 24, NO.

12, JUNE 15, 2012

979

In Vivo OCT Imaging Using Wavelength-Swept Fiber Laser Based on Dispersion Tuning
Yuya Takubo and Shinji Yamashita

Abstract We are developing a wide wavelength-swept ber laser based on a dispersion tuning method for application to swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) imaging. The tuning range of the laser is about 140 nm and the output power is 8 mW on average. We successfully obtained the in vivo OCT picture of the human skin at 1-kHz sweep rate. Index Terms Optical ber dispersion, optical imaging. applications, optical ber

I. I NTRODUCTION PTICAL coherence tomography (OCT) is a noninvasive cross-sectional imaging technique [1]. The light is input into the Michelson interferometer and the internal image of the sample is produced from the interference signal between the scattered and reference light beams. The system using a wavelength-swept laser and acquiring the interference signal by a photodetector is referred to as swept-source (SS)-OCT. The wavelength swept laser with wide range and fast sweep rate is desired for the SS-OCT system [2]. We have demonstrated a lter-less wavelength-swept ber laser based on the dispersion tuning technique [3-5]. In this letter, we apply the dispersion tuned ber laser at 1.3 m band to the SS-OCT system for the rst time to the best of our knowledge. The tuning range of the laser is about 140nm at the sweep speed of 10kHz, and about 100nm at 200kHz. The average output power is 8mW. The OCT image is successfully obtained at 1kHz sweep rate, which was limited by mismatch between the laser and the OCT system. The result shows the feasibility of the SS-OCT imaging system with a new style wavelength-swept ber laser. II. P RINCIPLE The principle of the dispersion tuning is mode-locking of a dispersive laser cavity. When the light in the laser cavity is intensity modulated at the integral multiple frequency of the free spectral range (FSR), the light is actively mode-locked. The FSR of the laser cavity F can be expressed as, c (1) F= nL
Manuscript received January 24, 2012; revised February 25, 2012; accepted March 5, 2012. Date of publication April 3, 2012; date of current version May 7, 2012. This work was supported in part by the Funding Program for Next Generation World-Leading Researchers (NEXT Program) of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. The authors are with the Department of Electronic Engineering, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan (e-mail: takubo@cntp.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp; syama@cntp.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp). Color versions of one or more of the gures in this letter are available online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. Digital Object Identier 10.1109/LPT.2012.2190503

Fig. 1.

Concept of the dispersion tuning.

where L is the cavity length, n is the refractive index in the cavity, and c is the speed of light in vacuum. In a dispersive cavity, the FSR depends on the wavelength as Fig. 1 shows. Therefore, the light oscillates at the specic wavelength corresponding to the modulation frequency. The change of lasing wavelength can be expressed as, n fm (2) = cD f m 0 where n is the nominal refractive index of the cavity, c is the speed of light in vacuum, D is the dispersion parameter, f mo is the center of the modulation frequency, and f m is the change of the modulation frequency [3-7]. Equation (2) indicates that the lasing wavelength can be swept linearly by sweeping the modulation frequency. III. C HARACTERISTICS A. Experimental Setup Fig. 2 shows the setup of the dispersion-tuned wavelength swept ber laser. The semiconductor optical amplier (SOA: InPhenix 1301) is directly modulated for mode-locking and 100m long dispersion compensating ber (DCF) is inserted to increase the dispersion of the cavity. The dispersion parameter D is about 120ps/nm/km and center modulation frequency f mo is 461MHz. The cavity includes the polarization controller (P.C.) and isolator, and half of the light in the cavity is output via 50:50 coupler. In order to sweep the lasing wavelength, the modulation frequency f m is linearly swept around the center frequency by the function generator (FG). B. Laser Characteristics In consideration of the RF modulation characteristics of the adopted SOA, we set the modulation frequency at around

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IEEE PHOTONICS TECHNOLOGY LETTERS, VOL. 24, NO. 12, JUNE 15, 2012

Fig. 4. Sweep characteristics. (a) Peak-hold spectra (blue: 500 Hz, red: 1 kHz, green: 10 kHz, purple: 100 kHz, light blue: 200 kHz, and orange: 400 kHz). (b) Time waveforms of two periods (from left, at 1, 10, 100, and 400 kHz).

Fig. 2. laser.

Schematic diagram of the dispersion-tuned wavelength-swept ber

Fig. 3. Static characteristics. (a) Optical spectra and (b) lasing wavelength as a function of the mode-locking frequency.

460MHz. The SOA drive current is 80mA and the AC modulation signal from the synthesizer is 28dBm after amplication. Fig. 3 shows the static characteristics of the dispersiontuned wavelength-swept ber laser. Fig. 3(a) shows the lasing spectra. As the mode-locking frequency is adjusted manually, spectra change wide range of 140nm. Fig. 3(b) shows the relation of the lasing wavelength and the mode-locking frequency. As the gure indicates, the lasing wavelength is proportional to the mode-locking frequency. Therefore, the triangular waveform from the FG enables the linear sweep of the laser. The output power at 1300nm is 7.96mW, according to the optical power meter. The linewidth at 1300nm is 0.61nm. Fig. 4 shows the sweep characteristics obtained by inputting the triangular wave from function generator and sweeping linearly the mode-locking frequency. Fig. 4(a) shows the peak-hold spectra at the sweep rate of 500Hz, 1kHz, 10kHz, 100kHz, 200kHz, 400kHz. The decreasing of the optical spectra is because of the integral time of the peak-hold function of the optical spectrum analyzer. Fig. 4(b) shows the temporal waveforms at 1kHz, 10kHz, 100kHz, 400kHz. The output power slightly decreases at higher sweep rate. IV. A PPLICATION TO OCT I MAGING We applied the dispersion-tuned wavelength-swept ber laser to the OCT system. We adopt the INNER VISION OCT system (Santec Corp.). Fig. 5 shows the setup of the SS-OCT system.

Fig. 5.

OCT setup.

Fig. 6. Point spread function of the dispersion-tuned laser (at the sweep rate of 1 kHz).

Fig. 6 shows the point spread function of the laser at the sweep rate of 1kHz. The function is achieved by the following method: inputting the light to the interferometer, one of the split light reects at the reference mirror and the other reects at the 35dB AR-coat mirror which is set at the sample side of the interferometer. The intensity of the interfering light decreases when the optical path difference, which corresponds to the imaging depth, is longer. The signal near 0mm is the system noise.

TAKUBO AND YAMASHITA: IN VIVO OCT IMAGING USING WAVELENGTH SWEPT FIBER LASER

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V. C ONCLUSION We have applied the fast and wide wavelength-swept ber laser based on the dispersion tuning technique to the SS-OCT imaging system for the rst time. The image of the human nger is obtained successfully at 1kHz sweep rate. The quality of the OCT image signicantly depends on the light source performance. To enhance the laser performance at the higher sweep speed, the cavity has to be shortened in order to reduce the photon lifetime. The DCF of 100m can be replaced by other highly dispersive devices, such as the chirped ber Bragg grating or the optical grating pairs. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors would like to thank M. Tei of Santec for cooperation on the OCT experiment. The theoretical value of the axial resolution is expressed as, 2 ln 2 2 0 (3) n where n is the refractive index of the sample, is the sweep range, and o is the center wavelength. As we indicated in the previous chapter, the sweep range is 140nm and the center wavelength o is around 1280nm. Substituting these source parameters, we obtain the theoretical value of 5.15m. The axial resolution of the system, which is read from the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the peak, is 16.0m, which is about three times worse than the theoretical value. The 6dB drop-off depth is 0.38mm. The sensitivity read out from the graph is 52dB. As we use the 35dB AR-coat mirror, the effective sensitivity is about 87dB. Fig. 7 shows the OCT image of the human nger. The picture is achieved at the sweep rate of 1kHz. The stripe pattern near the surface derives from the system noise. The sweat gland under the surface of the nger can be observed near the center of the image. Because the OCT system is optimized for 1kHz sweep, we could not take pictures at higher sweep rate. z= R EFERENCES
[1] D. Huang, et al., Optical coherence tomography, Science, vol. 254, no. 5035, pp. 11781181, 1991. [2] M. L. Gabriele, et al., Optical coherence tomography: History, current status, and laboratory work, Invest. Ophthalmol. Visual Sci., vol. 52, no. 5, pp. 24252436, 2011. [3] S. Yamashita and M. Asano, Wide and fast wavelength-tunable modelocked ber laser based on dispersion tuning, Opt. Express, vol. 14, no. 20, pp. 92999306, 2006. [4] Y. Nakazaki and S. Yamashita, Fast and wide tuning range wavelengthswept ber laser based on dispersion tuning and its application to dynamic FBG sensing, Opt. Express, vol. 17, no. 10, pp. 83108318, 2009. [5] S. Yamashita, Y. Nakazaki, R. Konishi, and O. Kusakari, Wide and fast wavelength-swept ber laser based on dispersion tuning for dynamic sensing (invited), J. Sens. A Special Issue Fiber Integr. Waveguide-Based Opt. Sens., vol. 2009, pp. 112, Jun. 2009. [6] S. Li and K. T. Chan, Electrical wavelength tunable and multiwavelength actively mode-locked ber ring laser, Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 72, no. 16, pp. 19541956, 1998. [7] K. Tamura and M. Nakazawa, Dispersion-tuned harmonically modelocked ber ring laser for self-synchronization to an external clock, Opt. Lett., vol. 21, no. 34, pp. 19841986, 1996.

Fig. 7.

OCT image of the human nger (at the sweep rate of 1 kHz).