Compensation for the Influence of Fluctuations in the Distance to the Object During Noncontact Probing in Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography

We propose and experimentally test a numerical method for correction of the influence of fluctuations in the distance to objects during noncontact probing in optical coherence tomography. The method is based on the analysis of phase shifts of the neighboring scans, which are due to microscale displacements, and further compensation for these displacements by using phasefrequency correction in the spectral domain. Unlike the known correlation methods, the proposed method does not distort the represented shape of the object surface. Its operability is demonstrated in model experiments in the cases of harmonic and random types of the motion of the scattering object, as well as in vivo imaging of the structures of the human middle ear.