Large-volume optical coherence tomography with real-time correction of geometric distortion artifacts

Large-volume optical coherence tomography (OCT)-setups employ scanning mirrors and suffer from non-linear geometric distortion artifacts in which the degree of distortion is determined by the maximum angles over which the mirrors rotate. In this chapter, we describe a straightforward approach to correct for these distortion artifacts, creating an alternative to previously reported ray-tracing schemes that are unable to apply these corrections in real-time. By implementing the proposed 3D recalibration algorithm on the graphics card of a standard computer, this feature can be applied in real-time. We validate the accuracy of the technique using OCT measurements of a highly curved object within a large imaging volume of 12.35 x 10.13 x 2.36 mm^3. The resulting 3D object shape measurements are compared against high-resolution and aberration-free optical profilometry measurements. Maintaining an optical resolution of <10 micron within the sample, both axially and transversally, we realized a real-time, high-resolution, large-volume OCT imaging system, capable of producing distortion corrected wide-field OCT data with a geometric surface shape accuracy of <15 micron.