Coherent optical tomography of microscopic inhomogeneities in biological tissues
Gelikonov V. M. , Gelikonov G. V. , Gladkova N. D., Kuranov R. V. , Nikulin N. K. , Petrova G. A. , Pochinko V. V. , Pravdenko K. I. , Sergeev A. M. , Fel'dshtem F. I. , Khanin Ya. I. , Shabanov D. V.
A method has been developed for constructing images of microscopic objects hidden in optically turbid media through the use of superluminescence sources in the IR frequency range with a coherence time =£30 fs. The method involves detecting a low-intensity coherent component of the reflected light. The method has been used for diagnostics of soft human tissues at depths up to 1.5 mm with a spatial resolution as good as 10 μτη. Optical tomograms of pathological states of biologic al tissues have been recorded for the first time. © 7995 American Institute of Physics.