Researchers at Kent have applied OCT to a number of fields, inlcuding ophthalmology, dentistry, impact crater profilometry and art conservation. A selection of this work is outlined below.

OCT in Ophthalmology

The animation below shows the human retina in the region of the optic nerve, obtained using our OCT system over a 50 s duration of patient exposure at 90 microwatts. It is made up of a sequence of one hundred 2x2 mm transverse sections at 10 micrometer depth intervals. The images are not corrected, not averaged and the eye movements during the exposure are visible.

The animation runs from the top of the optic nerve to the lamina cribrosa. When the animation starts, the image corresponds to the top of the retinal nerve layer (RNL). The following darker images represent the signal coming from the photodetector retinal layer (PRL) and the final brighter region is the photopigment retinal layer (PRL).

A novel method for topography using en-face OCT was presented in the following report (collaboration with Institute of Ophthalmology, London)
J. A. Rogers, A.Gh. Podoleanu, G. M. Dobre, D. A. Jackson, F. W. Fitzke, Topography and volume measurements of the optic nerve using en-face optical coherence tomography, Opt. Express, Vol. 9, No. 10, Nov. 5, 2001, pp. 476-545

The utility of adjustable depth resolution required by en-face OCT method is presented in:
A.Gh.Podoleanu, J. A. Rogers, D. A. Jackson, OCT En-face Images from the Retina with Adjustable Depth Resolution in Real Time, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electron., 1999, Vol.5, No.4, 1176-1184.

Anterior pole:
A. Gh. Podoleanu, J. A. Rogers, G. M. Dobre, R. G. Cucu, D. A. Jackson, En-face OCT imaging of the anterior chamber Coherence Domain Optical Methods in Biomedical Science and Clinical Applications V, SPIE Proc. Vol. 4619, V. V. Tuchin, J. A. Izatt, J. G. Fujimoto eds, Photonics West, SPIE Conf. BIOS2002, Jan. 21-23 Jan., 2002, pp. 240-243.

OCT in Imaging Skin

We demonstrated the construction of 3D images from en-face OCT:
A.Gh.Podoleanu, J. A. Rogers, D. A. Jackson, S. Dunne, Three dimensional OCT images from retina and skin, Opt. Express, Vol. 7, No. 9, p. 292-298, (2000)

 

OCT in dentistry

In a collaboration with the School of Dentistry at University of Liverpool, we demonstrated the application of OCT to the field of dentistry. The animation below is an OCT/SLO pair of a carried tooth:

B. T. Amaechi, S.M.Higham, A.Gh. Podoleanu, J. A. Rogers, D. A. Jackson, Use of optical coherence tomography for assessment of dental carries: quantitative procedure, Journal of Oral Rehabilitation, 2001, 28, pp. 1092-1093

B. T. Amaechi, A. Gh. Podoleanu, S.M. Higham, D. Jackson, Correlation of Quantitative Light-induced Fluorescence and Optical Coherence Tomography: Applied for Detection and Quantification of Early Dental Caries, Journal Biomedical Optics, 8(4); 642-647; 2003

OCT in imaging larynx and cochlea

(Collaboration with Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery Department, Guy's Hospital, London)
A. G. Bibas, A.Gh.Podoleanu, R. G. Cucu, M. Bonmarin, G. M. Dobre, V. M. M Ward, E. Odell, A. Boxer, M. L Harries, M.J. Gleeson, 3-D Optical Coherence Tomography of the laryngeal mucosa, Clinical Otolaryngology, 29 (6): Dec. 2004, pp. 713-720.

OCT in Imaging Breast Tissue

(Collaboration with the Department of Histopathology, Imperial College School of Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, London)
P. J. Tadrous, A. Gh. Podoleanu, S. Shousha, et al., 3D tissue imaging - A practical method using automated image registration and its application to the development of in vivo histological imaging techniques J. Pathology, 195: 1A-1A Suppl. S Sep. 2001
P. J. Tadrous, A. Gh. Podoleanu, G. M. Dobre, G.W.H. Stamp, Application of VRML for 3-dimensional, interactive, real-time comparison of OCT structures with standard histology, Coherence Domain Optical Methods and Optical Coherence Tomography in Biomedicine VII,
Valery V. Tuchin, Joseph A. Izatt, James G. Fujimoto, Editors, Proceedings of SPIE Vol. 4956 (2003) (C) 2003 SPIE 1605-7422/03/, Photonics West, BIOS2003, Jan. 27-29 Jan., p. 42-47.

Craters

We performed profilometry of craters using coherence radar. The image below is a surface tomography of a hypervelocity impact crater:

L. Kay, A. Gh.Podoleanu, M. Seeger, C. J. Solomon, A New Approach to the Measurement and Analysis of Impact Craters, Int. J. Impact Engn., Vol. 19, No. 8, 739-753, (1997).

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