In vivo and in situ cellular imaging full-field optical coherence tomography with a rigid endoscopic probe

Full-field OCT has proved to be a powerful high-resolution cellular imaging tool for biological tissues. However the standard bulk full-field OCT setup does not match the size requirements for most in situ and in vivo imaging applications. We adapted its principle into a rigid needle-like probe using two coupled interferometers and incoherent illumination: an external processing interferometer is used for in-depth scanning, while a distal common-path interferometer at the tip of the probe collects light backscattered from the tissue. Our experimental setup achieves an axial and transversal resolution in tissue of 1.8 mu m and 3.5 mu m respectively, for a sensitivity of -80 dB. We present ex vivo images of human breast tissue, and in vivo images of different areas of human skin, which reveal cellular-level structures. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America