Quantitative optical coherence tomography by maximum a-posteriori estimation of signal intensity

A maximum a-posteriori (MAP) estimator for signal amplitude of optical coherence tomography (OCT) is presented. This estimator provides an accurate and low bias estimation of the correct OCT signal amplitude even at very low signal-tonoise ratios. As a result, contrast improvement of retinal OCT images is demonstrated. In addition, this estimation method allows for an estimation reliability to be calculated. By combining the MAP estimator with a previously demonstrated attenuation imaging algorithm, we present attenuation coefficient images of the retina. From the reliability derived from the MAP image one can also determine which regions of the attenuation images are unreliable. From Jones matrix OCT data of the optic nerve head (ONH), we also demonstrate that combining MAP with polarization diversity (PD) OCT images can generate intensity images with fewer birefringence artifacts, resulting in better attenuation images. Analysis of the MAP intensity images shows higher image SNR than averaging.