Phase calculation with a swept source in optical coherence tomography: Jitter influence

An analysis of phase modifications introduced by laser jitter in frequency-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) is described. It is shown that a 1D spurious phase function is introduced as a consequence of this phenomenon. This phase function is added to any other introduced by the object under analysis causing a superposition of both. The result may impose some limitations for unambiguous determination of phase changes of objects. Experimental and theoretical results are presented.

Research highlights
► An analysis of phase modifications introduced by laser jitter in frequency-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) is described. It is shown that a 1D spurious phase function is introduced as a consequence of this phenomenon.
► This phase function is added to any other introduced by the object under analysis causing a superposition of both. The result may impose some limitations for unambiguous determination of phase changes of objects. Experimental and theoretical results are presented.
► It has been proved both theoretically and experimentally the possibility to measure internal phase changes using a swept source OCT system.
► Some limitations concerning the jitter of the swept laser have been discussed; we found that even existing, it behaves like a smooth function of a single variable along the scanning direction.