High-speed fiber based polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography of in vivo human skin

A high-speed single-mode fiber-based polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS OCT) system was developed. With a polarization modulator, Stokes parameters of reflected flight for four input polarization states are measured as a function of depth. A phase modulator in the reference arm of a Michelson interferometer permits independent control of the axial scan rate and carrier frequency. In vivo PS OCT images of human skin are presented, showing subsurface structures that are not discernible in conventional OCT images. A phase retardation image in tissue is calculated based on the reflected Stokes parameters of the four input polarization states.     

Jones matrix analysis for a polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography system using fiber-optic components

We present an analysis for polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography that facilitates the unrestricted use of fiber and fiber-optic components throughout an interferometer and yields sample birefringence, diattenuation, and relative optic axis orientation. We use a novel Jones matrix approach that compares the polarization states of light reflected from the sample surface with those reflected from within a biological sample for pairs of depth scans. The incident polarization alternated between two states that are perpendicular in a Poincaré sphere representation to ensure proper detection of tissue birefringence regardless of optical fiber contributions. The method was validated by comparing the calculated diattenuation of a polarizing sheet, chicken tendon, and muscle with that obtained by independent measurement. The relative importance of diattenuation versus birefringence to angular displacement of Stokes vectors on a Poincaré sphere was quantified.     

Doppler standard deviation imaging for clinical monitoring of in vivo human skin blood flow

We used a novel phase-resolved optical Doppler tomographic (ODT) technique with very high flow-velocity sensitivity (10microm/s) and high spatial resolution (10microm) to image blood flow in port-wine stain (PWS) birthmarks in human skin. In addition to the regular ODT velocity and structural images, we use the variance of blood flow velocity to map the PWS vessels. Our device combines ODT and therapeutic systems such that PWS blood flow can be monitored in situ before and after laser treatment. To the authors' knowledge this is the first clinical application of ODT to provide a fast semiquantitative evaluation of the efficacy of PWS laser therapy in situ and in real time.     

Determination of the depth-resolved Stokes parameters of light backscattered from turbid media by use of polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography

Polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) was used to characterize completely the polarization state of light backscattered from turbid media. Using a low-coherence light source, one can determine the Stokes parameters of backscattered light as a function of optical path in turbid media. To demonstrate the application of this technique we determined the birefringence and the optical axis in fibrous tissue (rodent muscle) and in vivo rodent skin. PS-OCT has potentially useful applications in biomedical optics by imaging simultaneously the structural properties of turbid biological materials and their effects on the polarization state of backscattered light. This method may also find applications in material science for investigation of polarization properties (e.g., birefringence) in opaque media such as ceramics and crystals.     

Phase-resolved optical coherence tomography and optical Doppler tomography for imaging blood flow in human skin with fast scanning speed and high velocity sensitivity

We have developed a novel phase-resolved optical coherence tomography (OCT) and optical Doppler tomography (ODT) system that uses phase information derived from a Hilbert transformation to image blood flow in human skin with fast scanning speed and high velocity sensitivity. Using the phase change between sequential scans to construct flow-velocity imaging, this technique decouples spatial resolution and velocity sensitivity in flow images and increases imaging speed by more than 2 orders of magnitude without compromising spatial resolution or velocity sensitivity. The minimum flow velocity that can be detected with an axial-line scanning speed of 400 Hz and an average phase change over eight sequential scans is as low as 10 microm/s, while a spatial resolution of 10 microm is maintained. Using this technique, we present what are to our knowledge the first phase-resolved OCT/ODT images of blood flow in human skin.     

基于最大和最小光强图像的偏振去雾方法

相对于传统光学探测技术,偏振探测在目标探测、识别方面有着独特的优势。针对雾、霾等天气下图像退化的问题,提出一种利用偏振信息的图像去雾方法,通过获取3个角度下目标的偏振图像,求解出场景目标的斯托克斯矢量,从斯托克斯矢量与穆勒矩阵的关系出发,分析偏振图像光强随着偏振角度的变化规律,获取最大和最小光强下的正交偏振图像,利用偏振滤波和亮通道先验方法分别估算大气光偏振度和其无穷远处大气光强值,最终重构出无雾图像。实验结果表明,在雾霾天气下,利用获取的正交偏振图像能够重构出清晰的图像,且重构图像的平均梯度和边缘强度均提升了约3倍,灰度标准差提升了约88%。     

双折射光纤受激拉曼散射偏光特性的实验研究

对椭圆芯光纤受激拉曼散射偏光特性进行了系统的实验研究。实验巾观察到8级斯托克斯线和2级反斯托克斯线,对不同偏振态的抽运光激励下各级斯托克斯线的偏振特性、拉曼频移等参量进行了分析,并给出了经验公式。其结果与实验数据符合良好。实验表明,双折射光纤受激拉曼谱的各级斯托克斯线的偏振状态不但与拉曼介质有关还与抽运光的偏振态有关,入射抽运光偏振态对低阶次的斯托克斯线拉曼频移的影响较小,而对高级斯托克斯线拉曼频移影响较大。     

Simultaneous intensity, birefringence, and flow measurements with high-speed fiber-based optical coherence tomography

We demonstrate that tissue structure, birefringence, and blood flow can be imaged simultaneously by use of techniques of polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography and phase-resolved optical Doppler tomography. An efficient data-acquisition procedure is implemented that optimizes the concurrent processing and display of all three image types. Images of in vivo human skin acquired with a high-speed fiber-based system are presented.     

On the lower bound of net driving power in controlled duct flows

We examine mathematically the lower bound of the net driving power (i.e., the summation of pumping and actuation powers) of a controlled duct flow under a constant flow rate. The net power in a duct with arbitrary cross-section in the presence of the inertial term, blowing/suction from the wall, and arbitrary body forces can be decomposed into four terms: (1) dissipation due to the velocity profile of the Stokes flow (in other words, pumping power for the Stokes flow); (2) dissipation due to deviation of the mean velocity from the Stokes flow profile; (3) dissipation due to velocity fluctuations; and (4) correlation between the wall-pressure of the Stokes flow and the time-averaged blowing/suction velocity. Of these, the first three terms are shown to be non-negative, while the sign of the fourth term is indefinite. The fourth term vanishes in cases where the duct has a constant-shape cross-section, such as cylindrical pipes and plane channels. Namely, in such cases, the lower bound of net power is exactly given by the dissipation rate (pumping power) of the Stokes flow at the same flow rate.     

Stokes vector determination of polarized light propagation in turbid medium

We report a two dimensional Stokes vector imaging technique for transamination measurements of the polarization state of scattering medium. Measurement of the depth resolved Stokes parameters allows determination of the degree of polarization, birefringence, retardation, optical activity and characterization of the medium. The polarized light preserved and degree of polarization very with scatterer concentration. The transmitted intensity patterns by varying a polarization state of the incident laser light (λ = 632.8 nm) and changing analyzer configuration provides a useful information about concentration, orientation, and shape of the sample under investigation. The results are important for the understanding of polarization phenomenon in turbid media, like biological tissues.     

Imaging of subcutaneous blood vessels and flow velocity profiles by optical coherence tomography

We have applied a compact low power rapid scanning Doppler Optical Coherence Tomography system to monitor multi-dimensional velocity profiles within the complex vessels and simultaneous real-time non-invasive imaging of skin tissues morphology in vivo, in the wavelength range of 1.3–1.5 nm. Optical clearing of skin tissues has been utilized to achieve depth of OCT images up to 1.7 mm. Current approach enables applying low-power (0.4–0.5 mW) and low-noise broadband near-infrared light sources and obtaining OCT images with down to 12 μm spatial resolution. Two-dimensional time-domain OCT images of complex flow velocity profiles in blood vessel phantom and in vivo subcutaneous human skin tissues are presented. The effect of optical clearing on in vivo images is demonstrated and discussed.     

Visualization of Fiber Moving in Air Tunnel with Velocity Gradient

To measure the parameters of fiber and to visualize the reshaping process of fiber in air tunnel, an experimental approach is developed in the present work. The tunnel is designed with gradient flow velocity, and the fiber reshaping images as well as the fiber length value are obtained experimentally. An analytical expression of velocity distribution in the tunnel is theoretically derived and the simulated results are obtained. Automatic fiber reshaping including stretch and rotation is verified using the dynamical equation and the multi-spherical chain model. It is shown that pull force by air flow makes a chain of balls become straight and Stokes moment makes the ball chain rotate. Finally, reshaping criterion related with flow velocity is formulated.     

拉曼效应和参量放大共同作用下增益谱特性

根据激光脉冲在双折射光纤中传输时, 拉曼效应和参量放大共同作用下所所遵循的耦合模方程, 基于平行拉曼增益的洛伦兹模型, 给出了输入抽运波偏振方向沿相互正交的双折射轴时, 拉曼效应和参量放大共同作用所导致的增益. 讨论并分析了在不同色散区相关参量对增益谱特性的影响. 结果表明, 拉曼效应改变了非线性和色散的相互平衡, 使得参量放大斯托克斯波与反斯托克斯波增益谱彼此不对称; 当输入功率一定时, 其增益谱结构确定, 非线性系数和色散系数两者之间相对变化时, 增益谱的强度和展宽有所改变.     

Calculation of Birefringence Distribution in Optical Fiber Based on Analysis of Angle Between States of Polarization

A method of the calculation of spatial birefringence distribution in an optical fiber link is presented. This method is based on analysis of the polarization properties of the backscattered optical signal. The analytical results are compared with numerical results. This comparison gives excellent agreement. The spatial birefringence distribution is evaluated from the measurement of the round-trip Mueller matrices derived from calculation of the angles between the input and output state of polarization.     

Probing vacuum birefringence by phase-contrast Fourier imaging under fields of high-intensity lasers

In vacuum high-intensity lasers can cause photon–photon interaction via the process of virtual vacuum polarization which may be measured by the phase velocity shift of photons across intense fields. In the optical frequency domain, the photon–photon interaction is polarization-mediated described by the Euler–Heisenberg effective action. This theory predicts the vacuum birefringence or polarization dependence of the phase velocity shift arising from nonlinear properties in quantum electrodynamics (QED). We suggest a method to measure the vacuum birefringence under intense optical laser fields based on the absolute phase velocity shift by phase-contrast Fourier imaging. The method may serve for observing effects even beyond the QED vacuum polarization.     

分振幅型全Stokes同时偏振成像系统波片相位延迟误差分析

分振幅型全Stokes同时偏振成像仪具有实时性好、空间分辨率高、精度高等优点,有很高的应用价值.分振幅型全Stokes同时偏振成像系统利用偏振分束器、1/2波片和1/4波片将入射光Stokes矢量调制在4幅图像中,可解析入射光Stokes矢量. 1/2波片和1/4波片的相位延迟误差对Stokes矢量测量精度有着不可忽略的影响.建立了包含上述两种误差的Stokes矢量测量误差方程,分析了1/2波片和1/4波片相位延迟耦合误差对自然光、0°/45°线偏光、左旋圆偏光等典型基态入射光的Stokes矢量测量误差的影响,推导了任意偏振态的Stokes矢量测量误差的表征方法.在邦加球球面和球内选取不同偏振度的Stokes矢量作为入射光进行仿真.结果表明, Stokes矢量测量误差和偏振度测量误差均随着入射光偏振度的增大而增大.选取入射光偏振度为1时的偏振测量精度评估系统.为满足2%的偏振测量精度, 1/2波片相位延迟误差应在±1.6°内, 1/4波片相位延迟误差应在±0.5°内.这对提高系统的偏振测量精度具有重要意义,为系统设计和研制提供了重要的理论指导.     

Imaging and quantifying transverse flow velocity with the Doppler bandwidth in a phase-resolved functional optical coherence tomography

The Doppler bandwidth extracted from the standard deviation of the frequency shift in phase-resolved functional optical coherence tomography (F-OCT) was used to image the velocity component that is transverse to the optical probing beam. It was found that above a certain threshold level the Doppler bandwidth is a linear function of flow velocity and that the effective numerical aperture of the optical objective in the sample arm determines the slope of this dependence. The Doppler bandwidth permits accurate measurement of flow velocity without the need for precise determination of flow direction when the Doppler flow angle is within +/-15 degrees perpendicular to the probing beam. Such an approach extends the dynamic range of flow velocity measurements obtained with the phase-resolved F-OCT.     

Quantitative retinal-blood flow measurement with three-dimensional vessel geometry determination using ultrahigh-resolution Doppler optical coherence angiography

Retinal blood flow quantification by retinal vessel segmentation with Doppler optical coherence angiography is presented. Vessel diameter, orientation, and position are determined in an en face vessel image and two representative cross-sectional flow images of the vessel. Absolute blood flow velocity is calculated with the help of the measured Doppler frequency shift and determined vessel angle. The volumetric flow rate is obtained with the position and the region of the vessel lumen. The volumetric blood flow rate of retinal arteries before and after a bifurcation is verified in a healthy human eye.     

单模光纤中偏振模色散的仿真模型

利用琼斯矩阵法研究了长单模光纤中偏振模色散的仿真模型.考虑到偏振模色散的随机性,该模型中单模光纤被看作是一系列短双折射光纤段的级联,相邻两段之间耦合角是随机的.研究结果表明,当短双折射光纤段等长时,偏振模色散呈现随波长周期性变化的特点;不符合实际情况.当短双折射光纤段不等长且服从高斯分布时,周期性逐渐消失;当其长度均方差为均值的20%,周期性完全消失.最后比较了偏振模色散的时域统计特性.取短双折射光纤段的长度服从高斯分布且均方差为均值的20%,偏振模色散的统计特性接近于实际分布.因此得出结论:为了正确估计偏振模色散的影响,在单模光纤的级联模型中,短双折射光纤段的长度应服从高斯分布,均方差为其均值的20%.     

拉曼效应对低双折射光纤偏振特性的影响

在低双折射光纤中,利用线偏振光满足的包含拉曼效应的非线性耦合模传输方程,通过引入斯托克斯参量,导出了斯托克斯参量所满足的耦合模传输方程.利用庞加莱球图示法,描述了拉曼增益效应作用下光波偏振态的演化,研究分析了拉曼效应对低双折射光纤中光波偏振态演化规律的影响.结果表明,当输入功率与运动常量满足一定关系时,拉曼增益效应改变了光波传输时其偏振态演化周期和偏振态的椭圆率.