Swept Source OCT Microscope System
Swept Source Optical Coherence Tomography Microscope System (OCM1300SS)
OCM1300SS Features
- Real time video rate imaging speed
- Simultaneous OCT and CCD imaging channels
- 3D volumetric imaging and surface profiling capability
- Large imaging depth
OCM1300SS Applications
- Biomedical imaging applications
- Material inspection
- Thin film test and measurement
- 3D volumetric imaging
- 3D surface profilometry
Thorlabs' OCM1300SS is a Swept Source based Optical Coherence Tomography Microscope (SSOCM) system. This new imaging system is capable of both 2D and 3D high speed imaging sample internal structure, as well as profiling the sample surface.
The SSOCM system utilizes the latest swept source based Fourier domain OCT technology to provide an OCT imaging system with detection sensitivity and imaging speeds much higher than conventional time-domain OCT (TD-OCT) systems. At the heart of the instrument is a swept laser source that tunes the lasing wavelength across a broad wavelength range at tens of kilohertz repetition rate. Each wavelength sweep of the laser provides a depth scan at a sample surface point that yields a detailed depth dependent reflectivity profile along the direction of laser illumination path. The high-speed scan of the laser enables the real-time video rate imaging speed, as one of the most important features of the SSOCM system.
The SSOCM system is capable of providing highly detailed 2D cross-sectional imaging of the sample internal structure, as well as computer generated 3D reconstruction of a volume near the sample surface. If the sample is even slightly transparent to light in the range of 1200 to 1400 nm, as most biological samples and many industrial materials are, the internal structure of a sample can be accurately mapped via computer generated tomographic images. External features with height variations of > 500 nm can be detected, while internal features can be resolved with an axial resolution of better than 10 um.
The OCM1300SS provides simultaneous multiple imaging channels for microscopic viewing the sample. The en-face images, similar to those obtained from a conventional microscope, can be acquired from the CCD channel while the cross-sectional images that show the sample's internal structure is provided from the OCT channel. Due to the novel data acquisition and signal processing methods employed, real-time video-rate imaging speed has been achieved on both channels. Through high-accuracy XY steering of the probing beam, the system also has the capability to perform 3D volumetric imaging of partially transparent samples, and 3D surface profiling of non-transparent samples. The system supports sample application interfaces of both the standard microscope and a flexible hand-held probe.
The OCM1300SS fits on a mobile instrument cart and comes complete with everything required to capture high-resolution OCT images. To get the system running, the operator simply switches on the laser system and computer, and launches a windows based application on the PC. Once the sample of interest is placed on the microscope platform or against the hand held probe, video rate OCT images are displayed in real time on the computer monitor.