Fast 3D in vivo swept-source optical coherence tomography using a two-axis MEMS scanning micromirror

We report on a fibre-based forward-imaging swept-source optical coherence tomography system using a high-reflectivity two-axis microelectromechanical scanning mirror for high-speed 3D in vivo visualization of cellular-scale architecture of biological specimens. The scanning micromirrors, based on electrostatic staggered vertical comb drive actuators, can provide ± 9° of optical deflection on both rotation axes and uniform reflectivity of greater than 90% over the range of imaging wavelengths (1260–1360 nm), allowing for imaging turbid samples with good signal-to-noise ratio. The wavelength-swept laser, scanning over 100 nm spectrum at 20 kHz rate, enables fast image acquisition at 10.2 million voxels s−1 (for 3D imaging) or 40 frames s−1 (for 2D imaging with 500 transverse pixels per image) with 8.6 µm axial resolution. Lateral resolution of 12.5 µm over 3 mm field of view in each lateral direction is obtained using ZEMAX optical simulations for the lateral beam scanning system across the scanning angle range of the 500 µm × 700 µm micromirror. We successfully acquired en face and tomographic images of rigid structures (scanning micromirror), in vitro biological samples (onion peels and pickle slices) and in vivo images of human epidermis over 2 × 1 × 4 mm3 imaging volume in real time at faster-than-video 2D frame rates. The results indicate that our system framework may be suitable for image-guided minimally invasive examination of various diseased tissues.