Comparison of artifact generation with catheter bending using different PS-OCT approaches

Kathy Zheng¹, Christopher Rashidifard¹, Bin Liu^1,2, Mark Brezinski^1,2

¹Center for Optical Coherence Tomography and Optical Physics, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; ²Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

Abstract: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a promising biomedical imaging tool for detecting pathology at a micron scale. In addition to performing structural imaging, other adjuvant techniques are available with OCT. In particular, polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) can be used, either through a single or dual detector approach, to assess collagen concentration and organization. In this paper, we compare the ability of single and dual detector PS-OCT with respect to catheter bending artifacts. It was found that even severe catheter bending resulted in no significant difference in quantitative birefringence measurement with the single detector approach. However, when the dual detector approach was examined, catheter bending resulted in a highly significant change in backreflection intensity. This paper raises questions as to the appropriateness of dual detector PS-OCT for performing catheter and endoscope based birefringence assessments.

Keywords: Optical coherence tomography, polarization, single detector, endoscopic imaging