An Improved Analytical Model of a Spectrometer for Optical Coherence Tomography

Abstract

We present an improved analytical model of a spectrometer for optical coherence tomography (OCT), which more accurately describes the OCT in-depth sensitivity fall-off. The model considers the intrinsic spectral resolution of the dispersive element and the influence of additional components (inequidistance-correcting prism). The model is validated by experimental data obtained both from other studies and our own experiments. The influence of the frequency response of the CCD electrical circuit and the analog-to-digital converter to the OCT signal fall-off was also detected and was shown to be significant in some cases.

Keywords

• optical coherence tomography
• grating spectrometer
• in-depth sensitivity fall-off
• inequidistance correcting prism