4. Conclusion

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a recent optical measurement technique enabling label-free imaging of optical interfaces present in a complex 3D sample. It relies on low-coherence interferometric detection to locate the axial position of optical interfaces, amplify the signal returned by a sample, and measure nanometric movements of the imaged structures. OCT is the only optical microscopy technique that can decouple axial and transverse resolution, enabling high axial resolution to be maintained in low numerical aperture imaging configurations.

Signal amplification can also make OCT sensitive to small structures, or increase the depth of penetration - generally around 10 times greater than other optical techniques - up to several millimeters into biological tissue. In particular, OCT has taken off in leaps and bounds, establishing itself as a benchmark technique...