We are happy to share news of a recent STARSTEM publication – Simple Characterization Scheme for Optical Coherence Tomography Systems With Application to a Commercial and a Near-Isometric Resolution Fibre-Based System.
Rajib Dey and team members from TOMI at NUIG recently had this journal article published in the IEEE Photonics Journal. The journal publishes top-quality research at the forefront of Photonics.
We asked the team to discuss their work –
What were you aiming to find out?
Development and characterization of the high resolution spectral domain OCT (SDOCT) system using broadband supercontinuum laser.
Why is this important?
For stem cells study a novel technique, nano-sensitive OCT (nsOCT), is used. To improve the dynamic range and depth resolution of the nsOCT, the imaging system with broadband light source, which provides extended spectral bandwidth, should be used. Development and characterization of such system is not a trivial task. In this paper we present fibre-based OCT system with a broadband laser from NKT corporation with central wavelength 1300nm and axial resolution of 3.8 μm in air, surpassing any previously reported values to the best of our knowledge.

Comparison of the developed SD-OCT (left column) vs Telesto III (right column) images of fingertip and cucumber with magnified portions.
Describe the methods used
The general physical principles were used to design, build and characterize the broadband fiber-based SDOCT system. To test the depth resolution we used the optical wedge with known parameters. Images of phantom (Scotch tape) and biological samples (cucumber and fingertip in vivo) were compared with one of the best commercial SDOCT system TELESTO III from Thorlabs Inc. Just fingertip of one human was imaged as an example.
How could this benefit citizens/ patients?
The nsOCT approach showed potential for study of different biomedical objects, including stem cells and humans in vivo. The developed SDOCT system for realization of the nsOCT approach improves dynamic range and resolution of the nsOCT. Advantages of the developed SDOCT system in comparison with one of the best commercial SDOCT system TELESTO III from Thorlabs Inc., including improved resolution, have been demonstrated. We expect that realization of the nsOCT approach using developed SDOCT system will improve the potential possibility of the nsOCT to study pathological changes in different biomedical objects.
Who were your collaborators?
The research on application of the nsOCT for stem cells imaging and study was done with Regenerative Medicine Institute, School of Medicine, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland. It is expected that they also should have benefit from improved SDOCT system for nsOCT. The nsOCT is a complementary technique to other imaging modalities which are used in STARSTEM project, for example, photo-acoustic imaging. Thus additional information obtained using nsOCT will be useful for other STARSTEM participants.
What are the next steps?
The nsOCT approach will be realized using this broadband fiber-based SDOCT system and applied for detection and imaging of different pathologies within biotissues.
You can read the full abstract and download a pdf of the article on our publications page.