| Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
|---|
| 356497000 | Having short coherence length source | 81 |
| 20080252901 | Wavelength-Tunable Light Source And Optical Coherence Tomography - The present invention provides an OCT technique that permits tomographic observation of a biological body parts that is difficult to restrain and also provides a tomographic observation technique for the observation of a constrainable part that does not require constraint and remove the burden from biological body. A wavelength-tunable light generator (wavelength-tunable light source) is employed as the light source of the optical coherence tomography device. The wavelength-tunable light generator has a wave number tunable range width of at least 4.7×10 | 10-16-2008 |
| 20080278730 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DETERMINING OPTICAL PROPERTIS USING LOW COHERENCE INTERFERENCE SIGNALS - Methods and related systems for determining properties of optical systems (e.g., interferometers) and/or optical elements (e.g., lenses and/or lens systems) are described. For example, information related to an optical thickness mismatch of an interferometer can be determined by providing scanning interferometry data. The data typically include obtaining one or more interference signals each corresponding to a different spatial location of a test object. A phase is determined for each of multiple frequencies of each interference signal. The information related to the optical thickness mismatch is determined based on the phase for each of the multiple frequencies of the interference signal(s). | 11-13-2008 |
| 20080285049 | DEVICE FOR OPTICALLY MEASURING AN OBJECT - A device for the optic measuring of an object ( | 11-20-2008 |
| 20080304078 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR OPTICALLY ANALYZING A SURFACE - In one embodiment, a system to measure defects on a surface of a wafer and an edge of the wafer using a single tool comprises a radial motor to move an optical head in a radial direction to detect defects at locations displaced from the edge of the wafer, and a rotational motor to rotate the optical head around the edge of the wafer to detect defects on the edge of the wafer. | 12-11-2008 |
| 20090066965 | High power broadband superluminescent diode - A superluminescent diode according the present invention employs a unoform AlGaInAs quantum well on an InP substrate, emitting in a range of 1100 to 1800 nm. The favorable conduction band: valence band offset ratio of this material system enables superluminescent diodes which simultaneously provide high power and large optical bandwidth. A recent reduction to practice of the present invention simultaneously demonstrates output power exceeding 100 mW and bandwidth exceeding 100 nm. A preferred embodiment of this invention uses multiple uniform AlGaInAs quantum wells with two confined quantum states and energetic separation in a range of 100-130 nm. An alternate preferred embodiment uses non-uniform wells, with each well having two confined quantum states. The present invention is particularly useful in time domain and spectral domain optical coherence tomography systems, providing increased resolution and tissue penetration for in-vivo imaging. | 03-12-2009 |
| 20090079993 | Dental Optical Coherence Tomograph - A dental optical coherence tomography apparatus for measuring tissue in a stomatognathic region of a living body or an artificial composition in the stomatognathic region as a measured object includes: a variable wavelength light source ( | 03-26-2009 |
| 20090079994 | METHOD FOR RELIABLE OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY SCANS OF VOLUMES OF RETINAL TISSUE - A method of building up a three dimensional OCT image of an object having a limited region sensitive to movement of a scanning beam performs an OCT scan in a scanning pattern that results in said limited region, typically the fovea of the eye, being scanned last. | 03-26-2009 |
| 20090103102 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DIGITAL DETECTION OF A TOMOGRAPHIC SIGNAL - Systems and methods for digital detection of an analog tomographic signal are described. The methods include receiving an amplitude-modulated analog signal containing tomographic information, the analog signal having a modulation frequency, f | 04-23-2009 |
| 20090103103 | Device for tomographic scanning objects - A device for tomographic scanning objects comprises a source of light for irradiating the object; a first grid arranged in the optical axis of the light beam so that a pattern of the first grid is projected on the object; an optical imaging assembly for imaging the object on a sensor; and a second grid provided in the optical axis of the reflected light beam having a pattern matching the first grid, through said second grid the reflected light beam having the pattern of the first grid being guided so that the sensor senses the light beam reflected by the object with a Moiré pattern resulting from overlying the pattern of the first grid and the pattern of the second grid. The device further comprises a means for moving the first grid and/or the second grid at a frequency causing fluctuations in the intensity of the resulting Moiré pattern. | 04-23-2009 |
| 20090122322 | INTERFEROMETRIC METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LINEAR DETECTION OF MOTION FROM A SURFACE - An apparatus and a method for detecting surface motion of an object subject to ultrasound are disclosed. The method comprises generating a laser beam, dividing the laser beam into a reference beam and an object beam to be directed onto the surface, thereby producing a scattered object beam, introducing a frequency shift between the reference beam and the scattered object beam, wherein the frequency shift is smaller than the ultrasonic frequency, detecting the interference between the scattered object beam and the frequency shifted reference beam using a plurality of detecting elements to generate a plurality of electrical interference signals, wherein the electrical interference signals each comprise a wanted signal component indicative of the surface motion and a noise signal component, and processing the electrical interference signals to determine the surface motion of the object. | 05-14-2009 |
| 20090147266 | Eye Length Measurement Apparatus - An interferometric axial eye length measurement apparatus having a light source adapted to produce a beam of partially coherent light, a first mirror and a second mirror disposed in the reference arm, and a processor adapted to control at least the second mirror such that a corneal interference peak and a second interference peak have a non-zero separation. There is at least one variable delay optical element having a delay signal, wherein the delay signal corresponding to a region between the corneal interference peak and second interference peak is substantially linear. | 06-11-2009 |
| 20090153874 | EN-FACE OCT WITH PARALLEL DETECTOR ARRAY - In an OCT apparatus, an object light beam is returned from a target and interferes with a reference light beam. Image information is obtained from a depth Z in the target that depends on the optical path difference between the object and reference beams with a resolution that depends on the coherence length of the light. A scanner transversely scans the target with the object beam over a plurality of image points defined by the resolution of the apparatus. Interface optics directs the reference and object beams onto an array of detector elements such that the optical path difference between the reference beam and the object beam varies across the array. The reference beam and the object beam interfere with each other over the array of detector elements for individual image points on the target during each transverse scan. A memory stores a subset of data points corresponding to each individual image point obtained from each detector elements of the array. A processor processes one or more of the subsets of data points to derive image information extending over a range of depths in the target for each individual image point. The obtained image information is displayed on a displace device. | 06-18-2009 |
| 20090168072 | Illumination System - A coherence remover includes a first partially reflective surface and a second partially reflective surface. The coherence remover is configured to receive an input beam. Each of the first and second reflective surfaces is configured to reflect a respective portion of the input beam to produce respective one or more intermediate beams. The intermediate beams collectively form an output beam that has a reduced coherence compared to the input beam. | 07-02-2009 |
| 20090237673 | Spectral Domain Phase Microscopy (SDPM) Dual Mode Imaging Systems and Related Methods and Computer Program Products - Some embodiments of the present invention provide optical coherence tomography systems including an OCT engine and a processor. The OCT engine is configured to provide both standard OCT imaging and spectral domain phase microscopy (SDPM) imaging. The processor is coupled to the OCT engine and is configured to use a first signal processing method when the OCT engine is configured to provide standard OCT imaging and a second signal processing method when the OCT engine is configured to provide SDPM imaging. Related methods and computer program products are also provided. | 09-24-2009 |
| 20090244546 | COMPENSATION TABLE GENERATION METHOD, APPARATUS AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT, AND TOMOGRAPHY IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS USING THE SAME - A compensation table for compensating interference signal obtained by OCT measurement is generated easily. When a reflection body interference signal is obtained by OCT measurement, the reflection body interference signal is compensated by a compensation table (Formula (1)) to obtain an evaluation output signal. Then, a spectrum of the evaluation output signal is calculated to obtain an evaluation value of the spectrum. Thereafter, a model coefficient is updated such that the evaluation value becomes small. | 10-01-2009 |
| 20090284749 | OCT Combining Probes and Integrated Systems - Optical coherence tomography (OCT) probe and system designs are disclosed that minimize the effects of mechanical movement and strain to the probe to the OCT analysis. It also concerns optical designs that are robust against noise from the OCT laser source. Also integrated OCT system-probes are included that yield compact and robust electro-opto-mechanical systems along with polarization sensitive OCT systems. | 11-19-2009 |
| 20090290167 | Optical Coherence Tomography Laser with Integrated Clock - A frequency swept laser source for TEFD-OCT imaging includes an integrated clock subsystem on the optical bench with the laser source. The clock subsystem generates frequency clock signals as the optical signal is tuned over the scan band. Preferably the laser source further includes a cavity extender in its optical cavity between a tunable filter and gain medium to increase an optical distance between the tunable filter and the gain medium in order to control the location of laser intensity pattern noise. The laser also include a fiber stub that allows for control over the cavity length while also controlling birefringence in the cavity. | 11-26-2009 |
| 20100002241 | OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHIC IMAGING APPARATUS AND OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHIC IMAGING METHOD - An optical coherence tomographic imaging apparatus which has a light intensity varying portion provided on a first optical path for guiding a measuring beam to an object for varying an intensity of the measuring beam; an illumination condition varying portion for varying an illumination condition of the measuring beam that has passed through the light intensity varying portion for the object between a first illumination condition in which a center part of the measuring beam is not blocked and a second illumination condition in which the center part of the measuring beam is blocked; and an image forming portion for weighting a first tomographic image acquired in the first illumination condition and a second tomographic image acquired in the second illumination condition and composing the weighted first second tomographic images to form a third tomographic image. | 01-07-2010 |
| 20100007894 | Multilayer Structure Measuring Method and Multilayer Structure Measuring Apparatus - A tomographic image measuring method according to the present invention includes a first step of calculating information corresponding to an optical distance of each layer thickness from a wave-number spectrum, a second step of separating and extracting information of each layer from the information corresponding to the optical distance of each layer thickness, a third step of reconverting information of each layer into a wave-number spectrum, respectively, a fourth step of obtaining a interference wave number from the result of the-third step, a fifth step of calculating an order of interference from the interference wave number and the optical distance of each layer; and a sixth step of calculating the optical distance of each layer by making use of the fact that the order of interference is an integer. Thus, when discrete Fourier transform is used, the measuring precision of layers is improved. | 01-14-2010 |
| 20100027029 | System and Method for Optical Coherence Tomography and Method for Calibrating Said Type of System - The invention relates to a system and to a corresponding method for optical coherence tomography having an interferometer ( | 02-04-2010 |
| 20100033732 | SCANNING SENSOR SYSTEM FOR NONCONTACT OPTICAL SCANNING OF OBJECT SURFACES - A scanning sensor system for noncontact optical scanning of object surfaces having a sensor head ( | 02-11-2010 |
| 20100060898 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR INTERFEROMETRIC ANALYSIS OF SURFACES AND RELATED APPLICATIONS - A method for determining a spatial property of an object includes obtaining a scanning low coherence interference signal from a measurement object that includes two or more interfaces. The scanning low coherence interference signal includes two or more overlapping low coherence interference signals, each of which results from a respective interface. Based on the low coherence interference signal, a spatial property of at least one of the interfaces is determined. In some cases, the determination is based on a subset of the low coherence interference signal rather than on the entirety of the signal. Alternatively, or in addition, the determination can be based on a template, which may be indicative of an instrument response of the interferometer used to obtain the low coherence interference signal. | 03-11-2010 |
| 20100067022 | System for Optical Coherence Tomography - The invention relates to a system for optical coherence tomography having an interferometer ( | 03-18-2010 |
| 20100079768 | OPTICAL COHERENCE COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY - A system, method, and device for imaging a sample. In embodiments, a light from a low-coherence source or a wavelength-swept source is used to illuminate the sample. Pathlength-resolved intensity profiles of the light reemitted from the sample are recorded and measurements are taken. A reconstruction algorithm is used to invert the pathlength-resolved measurements to form an image. | 04-01-2010 |
| 20100085574 | Length measuring apparatus - The present application relates to an optical length measuring apparatus using a laser beam, and has a proposition to enable highly accurate measuring. There includes a length measuring section measuring a distance to a subject and having a measuring laser beam source, a calibration laser beam source emitting a laser beam having a wavelength stability higher than that of a laser beam of the measuring laser beam source, an interference optical system bringing the laser beam of the measuring laser beam source and the laser beam of the calibration laser beam source into interference, and an arithmetic processing section performing a calculation of the distance based on an output of the interference optical system and an output of the length measuring section. | 04-08-2010 |
| 20100128280 | SCAN ERROR CORRECTION IN LOW COHERENCE SCANNING INTERFEROMETRY - In general, in one aspect, the invention features apparatus that includes a broadband scanning interferometry system including interferometer optics for combining test light from a test object with reference light from a reference object to form an interference pattern on a detector, wherein the test and reference light are derived from a common light source. The interferometry system further includes a scanning stage configured to scan an optical path difference (OPD) between the test and reference light from the common source to the detector and a detector system including the detector for recording the interference pattern for each of a series of OPD increments, wherein the frequency of each OPD increment defines a frame rate. The interferometer optics are configured to produce at least two monitor interferometry signals each indicative of changes in the OPD as the OPD is scanned, wherein the detector system is further configured to record the monitor interferometry signals. The apparatus also includes an electronic processor electronically coupled to the detection system and scanning stage and configured to determine information about the OPD increments with sensitivity to perturbations to the OPD increments at frequencies greater than the frame rate. | 05-27-2010 |
| 20100134802 | OPTICAL IMAGE MEASURING DEVICE - An optical image measurement device | 06-03-2010 |
| 20100220334 | FORWARD-IMAGING OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY (OCT) SYSTEMS AND PROBES - Provided are forward-imaging optical coherence tomography (OCT) systems and probes. | 09-02-2010 |
| 20100225925 | Methods, Systems and Computer Program Products for Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) Using Automatic Dispersion Compensation - Methods, systems and computer program products for generating parameters for software dispersion compensation in optical coherence tomography (OCT) systems are provided. Raw spectral interferogram data is acquired for a given lateral position on a sample and a given reference reflection. A trial spectral phase corresponding to each wavenumber sample of the acquired spectral interferogram data is postulated. The acquired raw spectral data and the postulated trial spectral phase data are assembled into trial complex spectrum data. Trial A-scan data is computed by performing an inverse Fourier transform on the trial complex spectrum data and determining the magnitude of a result. | 09-09-2010 |
| 20100245838 | METHOD OF MOTION CORRECTION IN OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY IMAGING - An image data set acquired by an optical coherence tomography (OCT) system is corrected for effects due to motion of the sample. A first set of A-scans is acquired within a time short enough to avoid any significant motion of the sample. A second more extensive set of A-scans is acquired over an overlapping region on the sample. Significant sample motion may occur during acquisition of the second set. A-scans from the first set are matched with A-scans from the second set, based on similarity between the longitudinal optical scattering profiles they contain. Such matched pairs of A-scans are likely to correspond to the same region in the sample. Comparison of the OCT scanner coordinates that produced each A-scan in a matching pair, in conjunction with any shift in the longitudinal scattering profiles between the pair of A-scans, reveals the displacement of the sample between acquisition of the first and second A-scans in the pair. Estimates of the sample displacement are used to correct the transverse and longitudinal coordinates of the A-scans in the second set, to form a motion-corrected OCT data set. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100284021 | SHORT COHERENCE INTERFEROMETER - A short coherence interferometer apparatus for measuring multiple axially spaced regions of a specimen, in particular the eye, which has at least one measuring beam path, through which multiple individual measuring beams are incident on the specimen, and one reference beam path, through which a reference beam runs, with which the individual measuring beams are superimposed and brought into interference. The individual measuring beams are axially offset to one another upon incidence on the specimen by an amount which is adapted to the axial spacing. The interferometer apparatus superimposes each individual measuring beam with the reference beam in an interfering manner and conducts it to a detector associated with the particular individual measuring beam. The individual measuring beams are combined into a mixture in which they have varying phasing in the superposition with the reference beam. | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100309477 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING OPTICAL IMAGING USING FREQUENCY-DOMAIN INTERFEROMETRY - An apparatus and method are provided. In particular, at least one first electro-magnetic radiation may be provided to a sample and at least one second electro-magnetic radiation can be provided to a non-reflective reference. A frequency of the first and/or second radiations varies over time. An interference is detected between at least one third radiation associated with the first radiation and at least one fourth radiation associated with the second radiation. Alternatively, the first electro-magnetic radiation and/or second electro-magnetic radiation have a spectrum which changes over time. The spectrum may contain multiple frequencies at a particular time. In addition, it is possible to detect the interference signal between the third radiation and the fourth radiation in a first polarization state. Further, it may be preferable to detect a further interference signal between the third and fourth radiations in a second polarization state which is different from the first polarization state. The first and/or second electro-magnetic radiations may have a spectrum whose mean frequency changes substantially continuously over time at a tuning speed that is greater than 100 Tera Hertz per millisecond. | 12-09-2010 |
| 20100309478 | Ophthalmic surgical microscope having an OCT-system - An ophthalmic surgical microscope ( | 12-09-2010 |
| 20100315649 | OCT APPARATUS AND INTERFERENCE SIGNAL LEVEL CONTROL METHOD FOR THE SAME - An OCT measurement apparatus includes a level detection section which detects the signal level of a piece of signal intensity information in interference information outputted from an interference beam detection section, a variable optical attenuator (VOA) which adjusts the light quantity of a return beam of a reference beam, and a light quantity control section which controls the VOA on the basis of the signal level of the piece of signal intensity information in the interference information detected by the level detection section. Accordingly, an interference signal at an appropriate level can be detected without saturation of the interference signal and reduction of an S/N ratio, and optical structure information of an object to be measured can be generated using the interference signal. | 12-16-2010 |
| 20110032533 | Methods and computer program products for quantitative three-dimensional image correction and clinical parameter computation in optical coherence tomography - Methods and computer program products for quantitative three-dimensional (“3D”) image correction in optical coherence tomography. Using the methods and computer program products, index interface (refracting) surfaces from the raw optical coherence tomography (“OCT”) dataset from an OCT system can be segmented. Normal vectors or partial derivatives of the curvature at a refracting surface can be calculated to obtain a refracted image voxel. A new position of each desired refracted image voxel can be iteratively computed. New refracted corrected voxel positions to an even sampling grid can be interpolated to provide corrected image data. In some embodiments, clinical outputs from the corrected image data can be computed. | 02-10-2011 |
| 20110058179 | Optical coherence tomography imaging - A digitized image of an object may include representations of portions of the object that are obscured, occluded or otherwise unobservable. The image may be a multi-dimensional visual representation of dentition. Characteristics of the dentition and its surfaces, contours, and shape may be determined and/or analyzed. A light may be directed toward and reflected from the dentition. The reflected light may be combined with a reference to determine characteristics of the dentition, including obscured areas such as subgingival tissue. | 03-10-2011 |
| 20110116100 | SYSTEM FOR ALIGNING A MEASURED OBJECT RELATIVE TO A DETECTOR, INTERFEROMETRIC SYSTEM AS WELL AS ALIGNMENT METHOD - The invention relates to an arrangement for aligning a measured object ( | 05-19-2011 |
| 20110134435 | OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY APPARATUS AND OPERATING METHOD THEREOF - An optical coherence tomography apparatus includes a light source, a light coupling module, and an optical path difference generating module. The light source emits a coherent light. The light coupling module divides the coherent light into a first incident light and a second incident light. The first incident light is emitted to an item to be inspected and a first reflected light is generated. The second incident light is emitted to the optical path difference generating module, a second reflected light is generated according to the second incident light by the optical path difference generating module through changing the transparent/reflection properties of at least one optical devices of the optical path difference generating module, so that there is a optical path difference between the first reflected light and the second reflected light. | 06-09-2011 |
| 20110170115 | OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHIC IMAGING APPARATUS AND OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHIC IMAGING METHOD - An optical coherence tomographic imaging apparatus which has a light intensity varying portion provided on a first optical path for guiding a measuring beam to an object for varying an intensity of the measuring beam; an illumination condition varying portion for varying an illumination condition of the measuring beam that has passed through the light intensity varying portion for the object between a first illumination condition in which a center part of the measuring beam is not blocked and a second illumination condition in which the center part of the measuring beam is blocked; and an image forming portion for weighting a first tomographic image acquired in the first illumination condition and a second tomographic image acquired in the second illumination condition and composing the weighted first second tomographic images to form a third tomographic image. | 07-14-2011 |
| 20110235050 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EYE MOVEMENT TRACKING IN SPECTRAL OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY (SD-OCT) - The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for collecting structural data with spectral optical coherence tomography from samples having a point of maximum reflectance. This point of maximum reflectance is used for adjusting the scanned path pattern. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110249271 | OPTICAL COHERENCE IMAGING SYSTEMS HAVING A REDUCED EFFECTIVE LINEWIDTH AND METHODS OF USING THE SAME - Frequency domain optical coherence imaging systems have an optical source, an optical detector and an optical transmission path between the optical source and the optical detector. The optical transmission path between the optical source and the optical detector reduces an effective linewidth of the imaging system. The optical source may be a broadband source and the optical transmission path may include a periodic optical filter. | 10-13-2011 |
| 20110299091 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING OPTICAL IMAGING USING FREQUENCY-DOMAIN INTERFEROMETRY - An apparatus and method are provided. In particular, at least one first electro-magnetic radiation may be provided to a sample and at least one second electro-magnetic radiation can be provided to a non-reflective reference. A frequency of the first and/or second radiations varies over time. An interference is detected between at least one third radiation associated with the first radiation and at least one fourth radiation associated with the second radiation. Alternatively, the first electro-magnetic radiation and/or second electro-magnetic radiation have a spectrum which changes over time. The spectrum may contain multiple frequencies at a particular time. In addition, it is possible to detect the interference signal between the third radiation and the fourth radiation in a first polarization state. Further, it may be preferable to detect a further interference signal between the third and fourth radiations in a second polarization state which is different from the first polarization state. The first and/or second electro-magnetic radiations may have a spectrum whose mean frequency changes substantially continuously over time at a tuning speed that is greater than 100 Tera Hertz per millisecond. | 12-08-2011 |
| 20120127476 | PROCESS, SYSTEM AND SOFTWARE ARRANGEMENT FOR DETERMINING AT LEAST ONE LOCATION IN A SAMPLE USING AN OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY - A system, process and software arrangement are provided to determine at least one position of at least one portion of a sample. In particular, information associated with the portion of the sample is obtained. Such portion may be associated with an interference signal that includes a first electro-magnetic radiation received from the sample and a second electro-magnetic radiation received from a reference. In addition, depth information and/or lateral information of the portion of the sample, may be obtained. At least one weight function can be applied to the depth information and/or the lateral information so as to generate resulting information. Further, a surface position, a lateral position and/or a depth position of the portion of the sample may be ascertained based on the resulting information. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120250029 | OPTICAL TOMOGRAPHIC IMAGING APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR - To remove an artifact generated by coherent noise from a tomographic image, provided is an optical tomographic imaging apparatus including: an artifact acquiring unit for acquiring an artifact generated by interference among a plurality of reflected light beams reflected by a plurality of layers of the object to be inspected; and an acquiring unit for acquiring a second tomographic image of the object to be inspected based on the artifact and a first tomographic image of the object to be inspected. | 10-04-2012 |
| 20120307258 | METHOD AND ARRANGEMENT FOR ROBUST INTERFEROMETRY - An arrangement and a method are provided for robust interferometry for detecting distance, depth, profile, form, undulation, flatness deviation and/or roughness or the optical path length in or on technical or biological objects, including in layered form, or else for optical coherence tomography (OCT), with a source of electromagnetic radiation and with an interferometer, in particular also in the form of an interference microscope, having an object beam path and having a reference beam path, in which an end reflector is arranged, and a line-scan detector for detecting electromagnetic radiation in the form of at least one spatial interferogram. | 12-06-2012 |
| 20120327423 | OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY APPARATUS - An optical coherence tomography (OCT) apparatus includes: a light source; an OCT optical system including: a first light splitter which splits light emitted from the light source into measurement and reference lights, a second light splitter which splits the measurement light into first and second beams, an optical delay path to generate an optical path length difference between the first and second beams, a scan optical system which scans the respective beams on an object to be examined in a transverse direction, a reference optical system, and a detector which receives a spectrum of composite light in which reflected lights of the first and second beams from the object, and the reference light from the reference optical system are combined; and an arithmetic controller which processes an interference signal output from the detector to obtain first and second tomographic images formed respectively by the first and second beams. | 12-27-2012 |
| 20130027714 | LIGHT SOURCE DEVICE AND OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY APPARATUS - A light source device capable of varying a light oscillation wavelength includes a plurality of optical gain media, a dispersing element, and a wavelength selecting element. The optical gain media amplify light, and have gain wavelength bands that partially overlap and different maximum gain wavelengths. The dispersing element is formed of a single element. Each of light beams emitted from the optical gain media is incident on the dispersing element. The dispersing element disperses the light beams emitted from the optical gain media into light beams of different wavelengths. The wavelength selecting element selects a light beam of a predetermined wavelength from the light beams of different wavelengths into which the light beams emitted from the optical gain media are dispersed by the dispersing element. The light source device emits the light beam of the predetermined wavelength selected by the wavelength selecting element. | 01-31-2013 |
| 20130094028 | COHERENCE GRID -- INTERFEROMETER AND METHOD FOR A SPATIALLY RESOLVED OPTIC MEASUREMENT OF THE SURFACE GEOMETRY OF AN OBJECT - A coherence grid—interferometer for spatially resolved optic measurement of an object, with a light source, an interferometer, a path length—altering unit, and camera with a detection area. The interferometer cooperates with the light source and camera such that an outgoing beam is split into a measuring beam and a reference beam, the measuring beam is at least partially reflected by the object to the detection area of the camera and overlapped via a beam splitter with the reference beam such that the overlapped beams overlap the photo sensors in a planar fashion, and the optic path length—altering unit changes the optic path length of the measuring and/or reference beams. The path length—altering unit has a path scale and a path detector which detect a changing length of the optic path of the measuring and/or reference beams and the interferogram records are synchronized with the path measurement. | 04-18-2013 |
| 20130169973 | OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY APPARATUS AND METHOD - An OCT apparatus includes, in addition to a first light source that changes a wavelength of light that is emitted, a second light source that emits light having a particular wavelength. The OCT apparatus is formed so that, when light having the particular wavelength is emitted from the first light source, the light emitted from the second light source is detected by a second optical detector. | 07-04-2013 |
| 20130229663 | SPATIAL-DOMAIN LOW-COHERENCE QUANTITATIVE PHASE MICROSCOPY - Due to potential sampling errors (due to small tissue samples not necessarily directly from the developing tumor) and limited optical resolution (˜1 micron), cancer may be missed or detected too late for optimal treatment, or conservative interpretation of indeterminate findings could lead to unnecessary surgery. The novel technology herein—Spatial-domain Low-coherence Quantitative Phase Microscopy (SL-QPM)—can detect structural alterations within cell nuclei with nanoscale sensitivity (0.9 nm) (or nuclear nano-morphology) for “nano-pathological diagnosis” of cancer. SL-QPM uses original, unmodified cytology and histology specimens prepared with standard clinical protocols and stains. SL-QPM can easily integrate in existing clinical pathology laboratories. Results quantified the spatial distribution of optical path length or refractive index in individual nuclei with nanoscale sensitivity, which could be applied to studying nuclear nano-morphology as cancer progresses. The nuclear nano-morphology derived from SL-QPM offers significant diagnostic value in clinical care and subcellular mechanistic insights for basic and translational research. | 09-05-2013 |
| 20130242312 | OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY USING SPECTRALLY CONTROLLED INTERFEROMETRY - The time delay (and therefore the OPD) between object and reference beams in an interferometer is manipulated by changing the spectral properties of the source. The spectral distribution is tuned to produce a modulation peak at a value of OPD equal to the optical distance between the object and reference arms of a Fizeau interferometer, thereby enabling the use of its common-axis configuration to carry out white-light measurements free of coherence noise. Unwanted interferences from other reflections in the optical path are also removed by illuminating the object with appropriate spectral characteristics. OPD scanning is implemented without mechanical means by altering the source spectrum over time so as to shift the peak location by a predetermined scanning step between acquisition frames. The invention and its advantages are applicable to optical coherence tomography as well as conventional white light interferometry. | 09-19-2013 |
| 20130242313 | SCANNING METHODS AND APPARATUS - There is provided a method of identifying a region of interest in sample. The method comprises obtaining one or more optical coherence tomography (OCT) axial scans at one or more locations over the sample surface; for each axial scan, determining an integrated total of OCT intensity over the depth of the scan, and determining an attenuation depth into the sample at which a predetermined fraction of the integrated total is reached; and determining the from the one or more attenuation depths a region of interest in the sample. Generally, the method does not rely the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of any particular scientific model of scattering and attenuation. It is therefore robust and can be employed across a wide variety of samples, including non-biological ones. | 09-19-2013 |
| 20130258349 | OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY IMAGING APPARATUS, IMAGING SYSTEM, AND CONTROL APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD FOR CONTROLLING IMAGING RANGE IN DEPTH DIRECTION OF OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY - An optical coherence tomography imaging apparatus that acquires a tomographic image from interference light between a reference beam and a measuring beam obtained via an object includes a control unit configured to control a difference in optical path length between the reference beam and the measuring beam by a control method according to an imaging target region, and a signal processing unit configured to generate image data of the object based on an electrical signal obtained by detecting the interference light with the difference in optical path length controlled by the control method. | 10-03-2013 |
| 20130258350 | OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHIC IMAGING APPARATUS AND METHOD THEREOF - An optical coherence tomographic imaging apparatus including a planar image obtaining unit configured to obtain a planar image of a subject based on a return beam from the subject irradiated by the irradiation unit that irradiates the subject with light of a first wavelength band, a tomographic image obtaining unit configured to obtain a tomographic image of the subject based on a beam in which a return beam from the subject irradiated with the laser beam emitted while sweeping a second wavelength range which is longer than the first wavelength band and a reference beam corresponding to the laser beam are combined, and a correction unit configured to correct an optical path length difference generated due to a difference between the first wavelength band and the second wavelength band. | 10-03-2013 |
| 20130265585 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PHASE MEASUREMENTS - Preferred embodiments of the present invention are directed to systems for phase measurement such as for imaging small biological objects with light. These embodiments can be applied to the fields of, for example, cellular physiology and neuroscience. These preferred embodiments are based on principles of phase measurements and imaging technologies. The scientific motivation for using phase measurements and imaging technologies is derived from, for example, cellular biology at the sub-micron level which can include, without limitation, imaging origins of dysplasia, cellular communication, neuronal transmission and implementation of the genetic code. Light based techniques with nanometer resolution enable the cellular machinery to be studied in its native state. Thus, preferred embodiments of the present invention include systems based on principles of interferometry and/or phase measurements and are used to study cellular physiology. These systems include principles of low coherence interferometry (LCI) using optical interferometers to measure phase, or light scattering spectroscopy (LSS) wherein interference within the cellular components themselves is used, or in the alternative the principles of LCI and LSS can be combined to result in systems of the present invention. | 10-10-2013 |
| 20130301057 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EMITTING WAVELENGTH-SWEPT LIGHT - A method of emitting wavelength-swept light includes controlling either one or both of magnitudes and on/off timings of currents to be applied to a first gain medium of a first optical generator and a second gain medium of a second optical generator to control an intensity and a wavelength region of each of first wavelength-swept light and second wavelength-swept light; generating the first wavelength-swept light having a first center wavelength based on the current applied to the first gain medium of the first optical generator; generating the second wavelength-swept light having a second center wavelength based on the current applied to the second gain medium of the second optical generator; and emitting output wavelength-swept light by coupling the first wavelength-swept light and the second wavelength-swept light. | 11-14-2013 |
| 20130321821 | PROFILE MEASURING INSTRUMENT - A profile measuring instrument includes: a fixed member of which position relative to a workpiece having a surface to be profile-measured is fixed; a scanning member supported by the fixed member and movable in a scan direction along the surface of the workpiece relative to the fixed member; a laser interferometer that detects a displacement of the surface of the workpiece along the scan direction. The laser interferometer includes: a polarizing beamsplitter provided to the scanning member; a reference mirror fixed to the fixed member; a measurement optical path extending from the polarizing beamsplitter to the workpiece; and a reference optical path extending from the polarizing beamsplitter to the reference mirror. A difference between an optical path length of the measurement optical path and an optical path length of the reference optical path is a predetermined tolerable error or less. | 12-05-2013 |
| 20130321822 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MEASURING INTERNAL DIMENSIONS OF AN OBJECT BY OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY - A system is provided for optically measuring internal dimensions of a sample object comprising internal interfaces at which the refraction index changes so that a portion of incident light is backreflected and/or backscattered and can be detected by means of optical coherence tomography. The system comprises at least one first OCT device adapted to measure internal dimensions in a first partial volume of the object and at least one second OCT device adapted to measure internal dimensions in a second partial volume of the same object, wherein the second partial volume is at least partially different from the first partial volume. The first and second OCT devices may share at least partially spatially superimposed first and second sample arms, which may have respective different focal lengths and pass through a common optical lens system toward the object | 12-05-2013 |
| 20140029015 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ARTIFACT SUPPRESSION BY FREQUENCY SHIFTING OR CAVITY LENGTH ADJUSTMENT - Swept source designs that eliminate or significantly reduce artifacts in optical coherence tomography are presented. One embodiment of the present invention is a source design that frequency shifts the coherence revival interference signal to a frequency larger than the A/D detection bandwidth or the post-processing bandwidth. In another embodiment, the introduced frequency shift is large enough to introduce a Doppler shift of the modes of the laser, which causes a blurring of the comb function, and thus eliminates or reduces mode hopping. In another embodiment, adjusting the cavity optical path length prior to data acquisition depending on the given optical layout configuration to reduce or eliminate coherence revival artifacts is described. | 01-30-2014 |
| 20140071456 | MULTIPLE PATHS MEASURING AND IMAGING APPARATUS AND METHOD - The invention discloses an optical interferometer which can be used to provide simultaneous measurements over multiple path lengths and methods to employ such an interferometer as to achieve a variety of functions covering simultaneous measurements at different depths separated by an increment of a multiple differential delay in the interferometer as well as simultaneous polarization measurements from a given depth and imaging. Configurations and methods are presented to encode the axial length in an object under investigation using frequency shifting as well as chirping the frequency of signals determining the frequency shifting. Methods are disclosed on the combination of multiple path configurations as to achieve versatile functionality in measurements, by using either broadband excitation or swept source excitation, combined with either discreet frequency shifting or chirped frequency shifting. Under swept source excitation, the invention discloses a long axial range apparatus, with constant sensitivity. | 03-13-2014 |
| 20140078512 | MOTION-COMPENSATED OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY SYSTEM - A motion-compensated optical coherence tomography system includes an optical coherence tomography sensor that includes a common-path optical fiber having an end for emitting light, reflecting reference light and receiving returned light for detection; a motion-compensation system attached to the common-path optical fiber and operable to move at least a portion of the optical fiber so as to compensate for motion between the end of the common-path optical fiber and an object being imaged; and a feedback control system configured to communicate with the optical coherence tomography sensor and the motion-compensation system. The feedback control system is configured to receive information concerning a measured distance of the end of the common-path optical fiber from the object and provide instructions to the motion-compensation system to decrease an amount of deviation of the measured distance from a desired distance. | 03-20-2014 |
| 20140104618 | COMPACT, LOW DISPERSION, AND LOW ABERRATION ADAPTIVE OPTICS SCANNING SYSTEM - An adaptive optics scanning system using a beam projection module with four or more axes of motion that can project and control the position and angle of a beam of light to or from an adaptive optics element. The adaptive optics scanning system is compact in size, overcoming the challenges of a traditional lens and mirror based pupil relay design. The adaptive optics scanning system has little to no dispersion, chromatic aberration, and off-axis aberration for improved optical performance. The system and methods for calibrating and optimizing the system are described. A modular adaptive optics unit that scans and interfaces an adaptive optics element is described. | 04-17-2014 |
| 20140104619 | System and Method for Optical Coherence Tomography - The invention relates to a system and to a corresponding method for optical coherence tomography having an interferometer ( | 04-17-2014 |
| 20140125991 | OCT system with phase sensitive interference signal sampling - An OCT system and particularly its clock system generates a k-clock signal but also generates an optical frequency reference sweep signal that, for example, indicates the start of the sweep or an absolute frequency reference associated with the sweep at least for the purposes of sampling of the interference signal and/or processing of that interference signal into the OCT images. This optical frequency reference sweep signal is generated at exactly the same frequency of the swept optical signal from sweep to sweep of that signal. This ensures that the sampling of the interference signal occurs at the same frequencies, sweep to sweep. Such a system is relevant to a number of applications in which it is important that successive sweeps of the swept optical signal be very stable with respect to each other. One specific example is phase sensitive OCT. This requires that the sampling of the interference signal occurs at exactly the same frequency/wavelength on every axial line (A-line). Such phase sensitive OCT has particular applications in Doppler OCT, synthetic aperture imaging, and in the subtraction of background noise sources from the OCT image. | 05-08-2014 |
| 20140125992 | OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY APPARATUS AND OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY METHOD - The optical coherence tomography apparatus includes: a light source unit; a branch unit for branching light output from the light source unit into measurement light and reference light; an interference unit for causing reflection, the reflection being light returned from an object, which is illuminated with the measurement light, to interfere with the reference light; and a detection unit for receiving interference light from the interference unit so as to detect an intensity of the interference light. The optical coherence tomography apparatus acquires a tomographic image of the object based on the intensity of the interference light detected by the detection unit. The interference unit outputs first and second interference light having interference components having phases mutually different by π. The first and second interference light output from the interference unit reaches the detection unit so that a time gap is generated between the first and second interference light. | 05-08-2014 |
| 20140146324 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR GENERATING TOMOGRAPHY IMAGES - Provided is an apparatus and method for generating tomography images, the apparatus including a detection unit configured to modulate each of incident beams into at least two basic modulated incident lights on the basis of at least a basic modulation parameter and into a target modulated incident light on the basis of a target modulation parameter, and to detect at least two basic interference signals and a target interference signal of an object; and an imaging unit configured to analyze the at least two basic interference signals to output a set target modulation parameter, to process the target interference signal as a target image of the object, and to output the target image. | 05-29-2014 |
| 20140176963 | OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY SYSTEM THAT IS RECONFIGURABLE BETWEEN DIFFERENT IMAGING MODES - The invention generally relates to an optical coherence tomography system that is reconfigurable between two different imaging modes and methods of use thereof. | 06-26-2014 |
| 20140204391 | Method and System for Optical Coherence Tomography - The present invention relates to a method as well as a corresponding system ( | 07-24-2014 |
| 20140218748 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF ANGLE-RESOLVED LOW COHERENCE INTERFEROMETRY BASED OPTICAL CORRELATION - Systems and methods of angle-resolved low coherence interferometry based optical correlation are disclosed. According to an aspect, a method includes directing a sample beam towards a sample for producing a scattered sample beam from the sample. The method also includes receiving the scattered sample beam at a multitude of scattering angles in at least two directions. Further, the method includes cross-correlating the scattered sample beam with a reference beam to produce a two-dimensional angle and depth resolved profile of the sample scattered beam. The method also includes processing the two-dimensional angle and depth scattered profile to obtain correlated information about scattering structures in the sample. | 08-07-2014 |
| 20140368832 | INTERFEROMETRIC DETERMINATION OF DISTANCE CHANGE WITH LASER DIODE, HIGH BANDWIDTH DETECTION AND FAST SIGNAL PROCESSING - Method and systems for determining a change of distance to an object by interferometry with emitting measurement laser light from a laser diode are disclosed. The method may include receiving at least a part of the measurement laser light, superimposing the reflected measurement laser light with a reference laser light and thereby providing at an interferometric phase and determining the change of distance to the object depending on the superimposition. In some embodiments, the measurement laser light may be emitted with low coherence and broad spectral bandwidth. An emitting wavelength of the measurement laser light may be fluctuating hop-freely within the spectral bandwidth causing interferometric phase fluctuations. | 12-18-2014 |
| 20150043006 | INTERFEROMETRY EMPLOYING REFRACTIVE INDEX DISPERSION - An interferometry system includes: a light source, defining a coherence length, an interferometer configured to combine measurement and reference beams to form an output beam, where the interferometer includes a dispersion imbalance between measurement and reference paths large enough to produce a coherence envelope for the system having a width more than twice the coherence length; a phase modulation device configured to introduce a variable phase between the measurement and reference beams; a detector; imaging optics to direct the output beam to the detector and produce an image of the measurement surface; and an electronic processor electronically coupled to the phase modulation device and the detector and configured to record multiple interference signals corresponding to different locations on the measurement surface, in which the interference signals are based on the intensity of the output beam as a function of the variable phase for the different locations of the measurement surface. | 02-12-2015 |
| 20150085298 | OPTICAL SENSOR ARRAY APPARATUS - Disclosure is related to an optical sensor array apparatus. According to one embodiment of the invention, multiple sensor pixels are arranged as an array and forming a sensor array. Every comparator circuit is connected to one sensor pixel so as to calculate its energy state. A light source such as laser is installed in the apparatus. A control circuit is provided to recognize the sensor pixels' energy states for determining the spatial interference difference made by the reflected ray. The sensor array apparatus may be adapted to various surfaces since the light intensity and exposure time is able to be modulated as a compensation mechanism. | 03-26-2015 |
| 20160003606 | OPTICAL DELAY APPARATUS AND OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY APPARATUS - According to one embodiment, an optical delay apparatus includes the following elements. The first retroreflector includes a first and a second reflection surface. The second retroreflector includes a third and a fourth reflection surface opposite to the first reflection surface. The third retroreflector includes a fifth and a sixth reflection surface opposite to the second reflection surface. The first driving mechanism moves the first retroreflector and a set of the second retroreflector and the third retroreflector relative to each other. The second retroreflector and the third retroreflector are misaligned with each other in a direction along a first line of intersection between the first reflection surface and the second reflection surface. | 01-07-2016 |
| 20160054113 | OPTICAL IMAGE MEASURING APPARATUS - A clear image of a measurement target in optical coherence tomography (OCT) is obtained while suppressing influence of reflected light from a specific portion. Included are a laser beam source, a beam splitter that splits a laser beam into a signal beam and reference beam; an objective lens that focuses the signal beam onto a measurement target in a container, a unit that moves the signal beam focus position, an objective lens that focuses the reference beam, a reflecting mirror, a flat plate arranged between the objective lens and reflecting mirror, and interference optics that combine the signal beam reflected by the measurement target with the reference beam reflected by the reflecting mirror and having passed through the objective lens. Three or more interference beams with different phases, and photodetectors that detect the interference beams are generated, and two of the objective lenses are the same lenses. | 02-25-2016 |
| 20160061725 | DEVICE FOR OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY - A device for optical coherence tomography (OCT) is provided. The device includes a light source for generating a sample beam incident on a matter and a reference beam for creating interference with the sample beam; a spatial light modulator enabling a plurality of ramp patterns for controlling an incident angle of the sample beam; and a diffraction grating for transmitting only a first diffraction component of the reference beam; whereby an image of the matter within a medium is captured by generating an interference image formed by the interference between the sample beam and the reference beam. | 03-03-2016 |
| 20160062112 | COMPACT, LOW DISPERSION, AND LOW ABERRATION ADAPTIVE OPTICS SCANNING SYSTEM AND METHOD - An adaptive optics scanning system and method using a beam projection module with four or more axes of motion that can project and control the position and angle of a beam of light to or from an adaptive optics element. The adaptive optics scanning system is compact in size, overcoming the challenges of a traditional lens and mirror based pupil relay design. The adaptive optics scanning system has little to no dispersion, chromatic aberration, and off-axis aberration for improved optical performance. The system and methods for calibrating and optimizing the system are described. A modular adaptive optics unit that scans and interfaces an adaptive optics element is described. | 03-03-2016 |
| 20160153771 | Shape Measuring Device | 06-02-2016 |
| 20160174836 | Compact Multimodality Optical Coherence Tomography Imaging Systems | 06-23-2016 |
| 20160202045 | METHOD OF MEASURING THE DEPTH OF PENETRATION OF A LASER BEAM INTO A WORKPIECE | 07-14-2016 |
| 20190145754 | EFFICIENT SAMPLING OF OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY DATA FOR EXPLICIT RANGING OVER EXTENDED DEPTH | 05-16-2019 |
| 20220136818 | OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY ANALYSIS METHOD AND APPARATUS - The present invention relates to an optical coherence tomography analysis method, comprising:
| 05-05-2022 |
