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Optical Coherence Tomography(OCT) is a non-invasive technique capturing cross-sectional area of the retina in micro-meter resolutions. It has been widely used as a auxiliary imaging reference to detect eye-related pathology and predict longitudinal progression of the disease characteristics. Retina layer segmentation is one of the crucial feature extraction techniques, where the variations of retinal layer thicknesses and the retinal layer deformation due to the presence of the fluid are highly correlated with multiple epidemic eye diseases like Diabetic Retinopathy(DR) and Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD). However, these images are acquired from different devices, which have different intensity distribution, or in other words, belong to different imaging domains. This paper proposes a segmentation-guided domain-adaptation method to adapt images from multiple devices into single image domain, where the state-of-art pre-trained segmentation model is available. It avoids the time consumption of manual labelling for the upcoming new dataset and the re-training of the existing network. The semantic consistency and global feature consistency of the network will minimize the hallucination effect that many researchers reported regarding Cycle-Consistent Generative Adversarial Networks(CycleGAN) architecture., 16 pages, 10 figures

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography (OCT-A) may benefit the screening of diabetic retinopathy (DR). This study investigated the effect of laterally subsampling OCT/OCT-A en face scans by up to a factor of 8 when using deep neural networks for automated referable DR classification. There was no significant difference in the classification performance across all evaluation metrics when subsampling up to a factor of 3, and only minimal differences up to a factor of 8. Our findings suggest that OCT/OCT-A can reduce the number of samples (and hence the acquisition time) for a volume for a given field of view on the retina that is acquired for rDR classification.

Corneal imaging is important for the diagnostic and therapeutic evaluation of many eye diseases. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is extensively used in ocular imaging due to its non-invasive and high-resolution volumetric imaging characteristics. Optical coherence microscopy (OCM) is a technical variation of OCT that can image the cornea with cellular resolution. Here, we demonstrate a blue-light OCM as a low-cost and easily reproducible system to visualize corneal cellular structures such as epithelial cells, endothelial cells, keratocytes, and collagen bundles within stromal lamellae. Our blue-light OCM system achieved an axial resolution of 12 µm in tissue over a 1.2 mm imaging depth, and a lateral resolution of 1.6 µm over a field of view of 750 µm × 750 µm.

Retinal microvasculature and the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) play vital roles in maintaining the health and metabolic activity of the eye. Visualization of these retina structures is essential for pre-clinical studies of vision-robbing diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD). We have developed a quantitative multi-contrast polarization diversity OCT and angiography (QMC-PD-OCTA) system for imaging and visualizing pigment in the RPE using degree of polarization uniformity (DOPU), along with flow in the retinal capillaries using OCT angiography (OCTA). An adaptive DOPU averaging kernel was developed to increase quantifiable values from visual data, and QMC en face images permit simultaneous visualization of vessel location, depth, melanin region thickness, and mean DOPU values, allowing rapid identification and differentiation of disease symptoms. The retina of five different mice strains were measured in vivo, with results demonstrating potential for pre-clinical studies of retinal disorders.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has become an essential tool in the evaluation of glaucoma, typically through analyzing retinal nerve fiber layer changes in circumpapillary scans. Three-dimensional OCT volumes enable a much more thorough analysis of the optic nerve head (ONH) region, which may be the site of initial glaucomatous optic nerve damage. Automated analysis of this region is of great interest, though large anatomical variations and the termination of layers make the requisite peripapillary layer and Bruch’s membrane opening (BMO) segmentation a challenging task. Several machine learning-based segmentation methods have been proposed for retinal layer segmentation, and a few for the ONH region, but they typically depend on either heavily averaged or pre-processed B-scans or a large amount of annotated data, which is a tedious task and resource-intensive. We evaluated a semi-supervised adversarial deep learning method for segmenting peripapillary retinal layers in OCT B-scans to take advantage of unlabeled data. We show that the use of a generative adversarial network and unlabeled data can improve the performance of segmentation. Additionally, we use a Faster R-CNN architecture to automatically segment the BMO. The proposed methods are then used for the 3D morphometric analysis of both control and glaucomatous ONH volumes to demonstrate the potential for clinical utility.

The present paper introduces a numerical calibration method for the easy and practical implementation of multiple spectrometer-based spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) systems. To address the limitations of the traditional hardware-based spectrometer alignment across more than one spectrometer, we applied a numerical spectral calibration algorithm where the pixels corresponding to the same wavelength in each unit are identified through spatial- and frequency-domain interferometric signatures of a mirror sample. The utility of dual spectrometer-based SD-OCT imaging is demonstrated through in vivo retinal imaging at two different operation modes with high-speed and dual balanced acquisitions, respectively, in which the spectral alignment is critical to achieve improved retinal image data without any artifacts caused by misalignment of the spectrometers.

Background: The roles of the retinal microvasculature and the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) in maintaining the health and metabolic activity of the retina lend great clinical value to their high-resolution visualization. Methods: By integrating polarization diversity detection (PDD) into multi-scale and -contrast sensorless adaptive optics optical coherence tomography (MSC-SAO-OCT), we have developed a novel multi-contrast SAO OCT system for imaging pigment in the RPE as well as flow in the retinal capillaries using OCT angiography (OCTA). Aberration correction was performed based on the image quality using transmissive deformable optical elements. Results: MSC-SAO-OCTA imaging was performed at multiple fields-of-view (FOVs) with adjustable numerical aperture (NA). Retinal flow and RPE structural images for in vivo healthy and pathological human posterior eyes were demonstrated to show clinical feasibility of the system. Conclusions: High-resolution imaging of retinal vasculature at both large and small FOVs, as well as characterization of RPE topology and deformation, enables more sophisticated and concise investigation of retinal pathologies for in vivo human imaging. MSC imaging may permit detection and analysis of even subtle deformations in the RPE layer using a single instrument.

Two-photon excited fluorescence (TPEF) imaging of the retina is a developing technique that provides non-invasive compound-specific measurements from the retina. In this report, we demonstrate high-resolution TPEF imaging of the mouse retina using sensorless adaptive optics (SAO) and optical coherence tomography (OCT). A single near-infrared light source was used for simultaneous multi-modal imaging with OCT and TPEF. The image-based SAO could be performed using the en face OCT or the TPEF for aberration correction. Our results demonstrate OCT and TPEF for angiography. Also, we demonstrate non-invasive cellular-resolution imaging of fluorescently labelled cells and the Retinal Pigment Epithelium (RPE) mosaic.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a powerful tool in ophthalmology that provides in vivo morphology of the retinal layers and their light scattering properties. The directional (angular) reflectivity of the retinal layers was investigated with focus on the scattering from retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). The directional scattering of the RPE was studied in three mice strains with three distinct melanin concentrations: albino (BALB/c), agouti (129S1/SvlmJ), and strongly pigmented (C57BL/6J). The backscattering signal strength was measured with a directional OCT system in which the pupil entry position of the narrow OCT beam can be varied across the dilated pupil of the eyes of the mice. The directional reflectivity of other retinal melanin-free layers, including the internal and external limiting membranes, and Bruch’s membrane (albinos) were also measured and compared between the strains. The intensity of light backscattered from these layers was found highly sensitive to the angle of illumination, whereas the inner/outer segment (IS/OS) junctions showed a reduced sensitivity. The reflections from the RPE are largely insensitive in highly pigmented mice. The differences in directional scattering between strains shows that directionality decreases with an increase in melanin concentrations in RPE, suggesting increasing contribution of Mie scattering by melanosomes.

High resolution visualization of optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography (OCT-A) data is required to fully take advantage of the imaging modality’s three-dimensional nature. However, artifacts induced by patient motion often degrade OCT-A data quality. This is especially true for patients with deteriorated focal vision, such as those with diabetic retinopathy (DR). We propose a novel methodology for software-based OCT-A motion correction achieved through serial acquisition, volumetric registration, and averaging. Motion artifacts are removed via a multi-step 3D registration process, and visibility is significantly enhanced through volumetric averaging. We demonstrate that this method permits clear 3D visualization of retinal pathologies and their surrounding features, 3D visualization of inner retinal capillary connections, as well as reliable visualization of the choriocapillaris layer.

Retinal microvasculature and the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) play vital roles in maintaining the health and metabolic activity of the eye. Visualization of these retina structures is essential for pre-clinical studies of vision-robbing diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD). We have developed a quantitative multi-contrast polarization diversity OCT and angiography (QMC-PD-OCTA) system for imaging and visualizing pigment in the RPE using degree of polarization uniformity (DOPU), along with flow in the retinal capillaries using OCT angiography (OCTA). An adaptive DOPU averaging kernel was developed to increase quantifiable values from visual data, and QMC en face images permit simultaneous visualization of vessel location, depth, melanin region thickness, and mean DOPU values, allowing rapid identification and differentiation of disease symptoms. The retina of five different mice strains were measured in vivo, with results demonstrating potential for pre-clinical studies of retinal disorders.

Automated measurements of the human cone mosaic requires the identification of individual cone photoreceptors. The current gold standard, manual labeling, is a tedious process and can not be done in a clinically useful timeframe. As such, we present an automated algorithm for identifying cone photoreceptors in adaptive optics optical coherence tomography (AO-OCT) images. Our approach fine-tunes a pre-trained convolutional neural network originally trained on AO scanning laser ophthalmoscope (AO-SLO) images, to work on previously unseen data from a different imaging modality. On average, the automated method correctly identified 94% of manually labeled cones when compared to manual raters, from twenty different AO-OCT images acquired from five normal subjects. Voronoi analysis confirmed the general hexagonal-packing structure of the cone mosaic as well as the general cone density variability across portions of the retina. The consistency of our measurements demonstrates the high reliability and practical utility of having an automated solution to this problem.

We demonstrate the utility of a novel scanning method for optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). Although raster scanning is commonly used for OCTA imaging, a bidirectional approach would lessen the distortion caused by galvanometer-based scanners as sources continue to increase sweep rates. As shown, a unidirectional raster scan approach has a lower effective scanning time than bidirectional approaches; however, a strictly bidirectional approach causes contrast variation along the B-scan direction due to the non-uniform time interval between B-scans. Therefore, a stepped bidirectional approach is introduced and successfully applied to retinal imaging in normal controls and in a pathological subject with diabetic retinopathy.

Vision researchers often use small animals due to the availability of many transgenic strains that model human diseases or express biomarkers. Adaptive optics (AO) enables non-invasive single-cell imaging in a living animal but often results in high system complexity. Sensorless AO (SAO) can provide depth-resolved aberration correction with low system complexity. We present a multi-modal sensorless AO en face retina imaging system that includes optical coherence tomography (OCT), OCT-angiography, confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (SLO), and fluorescence detection. We present a compact lens-based imaging system design that allows for a 50-degree maximum field of view (FOV), which can be reduced to the region of interest to perform SAO with the modality of choice. The system performance was demonstrated on wild type mice (C57BL/6J), and transgenic mice with GFP labeled cells. SAO SLO was used for imaging microglia (Cx3cr1-GFP) over ~1 hour, where dynamics of the microglia branches were clearly observed. Our results also include volumetric cellular imaging of microglia throughout the inner retina.

Purpose. A newly developed high-penetration Doppler optical coherence angiography (HP-OCA) with a 1-μm probe beam for noninvasive investigation of vascular pathology of exudative macular diseases is introduced. A descriptive case series is presented to discuss the clinical utility of HP-OCA. Methods. Eleven eyes of 10 subjects with exudative macular disease, including two eyes with myopic choroidal neovascularization (mCNV); four eyes with AMD; and five eyes with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) were investigated. Two Doppler scanning modes (bidirectional and high-sensitive) of HP-OCA were used for the investigation. HP-OCA provides depth-resolved and en face angiograms and a structural OCT noninvasively. The HP-OCA images were compared with fluorescein angiography (FA); indocyanine green angiography (ICGA); and color fundus images. Results. The abnormal vasculature patterns observed with high-sensitive HP-OCA presented high similarity to the midphase of ICGA. Several abnormal Doppler signals were observed in the en face high-sensitive HP-OCA and were colocated with FA leakage. This colocation was found in one eye with mCNV, four eyes with AMD, and one eye with PCV. Doppler tomogram of the bidirectional mode showed abnormal Doppler signals in three of five PCV cases beneath the pigment epithelium detachment. With the high-sensitive mode, Doppler signals were found beneath the elevated retinal pigment epithelium in all untreated cases. Conclusions. HP-OCA revealed depth-resolved abnormal vasculatures in exudative macular diseases. The en face HP-OCA images showed high similarity with FA and ICGA images. These results suggest HP-OCA can be used for noninvasive and three-dimensional angiography in a clinical routine.

In this report, which is an international collaboration of OCT, adaptive optics, and control research, we demonstrate the Data-based Online Nonlinear Extremum-seeker (DONE) algorithm to guide the image based optimization for wavefront sensorless adaptive optics (WFSL-AO) OCT for in vivo human retinal imaging. The ocular aberrations were corrected using a multi-actuator adaptive lens after linearization of the hysteresis in the piezoelectric actuators. The DONE algorithm succeeded in drastically improving image quality and the OCT signal intensity, up to a factor seven, while achieving a computational time of 1 ms per iteration, making it applicable for many high speed applications. We demonstrate the correction of five aberrations using 70 iterations of the DONE algorithm performed over 2.8 s of continuous volumetric OCT acquisition. Data acquired from an imaging phantom and in vivo from human research volunteers are presented.

The visibility of retinal microvasculature in optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) images is negatively affected by the small dimension of the capillaries, pulsatile blood flow, and motion artifacts. Serial acquisition and time-averaging of multiple OCT-A images can enhance the definition of the capillaries and result in repeatable and consistent visualization. We demonstrate an automated method for registration and averaging of serially acquired OCT-A images. Ten OCT-A volumes from six normal control subjects were acquired using our prototype 1060-nm swept source OCT system. The volumes were divided into microsaccade-free en face angiogram strips, which were affine registered using scale-invariant feature transform keypoints, followed by nonrigid registration by pixel-wise local neighborhood matching. The resulting averaged images were presented of all the retinal layers combined, as well as in the superficial and deep plexus layers separately. The contrast-to-noise ratio and signal-to-noise ratio of the angiograms with all retinal layers (reported as average ± standard deviation ) increased from 0.52 ± 0.22 and 19.58 ± 4.04 ?? dB for a single image to 0.77 ± 0.25 and 25.05 ± 4.73 ?? dB , respectively, for the serially acquired images after registration and averaging. The improved visualization of the capillaries can enable robust quantification and study of minute changes in retinal microvasculature.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has revolutionized modern ophthalmology, providing depth resolved images of the retinal layers in a system that is suited to a clinical environment. Although the axial resolution of OCT system, which is a function of the light source bandwidth, is sufficient to resolve retinal features at a micrometer scale, the lateral resolution is dependent on the delivery optics and is limited by ocular aberrations. Through the combination of wavefront sensorless adaptive optics and the use of dual deformable transmissive optical elements, we present a compact lens-based OCT system at an imaging wavelength of 1060 nm for high resolution retinal imaging. We utilized a commercially available variable focal length lens to correct for a wide range of defocus commonly found in patient’s eyes and a novel multi-actuator adaptive lens for aberration correction to achieve near diffraction limited imaging performance at the retina. With a parallel processing computational platform, high resolution cross-sectional and en face retinal image acquisition and display was performed in real time. In order to demonstrate the system functionality and clinical utility, we present images of the photoreceptor cone mosaic and other retinal layers acquired in vivo from research subjects.

We review the research on specialty fiber couplers with emphasis placed on the characteristics that make them attractive for biomedical imaging, optical communications, and sensing applications. The fabrication of fiber couplers has been carried out with, in addition to conventional single mode fiber, various specialty fibers such as photonic crystal fiber, double clad fiber, and hole-assisted fiber with a Ge-doped core. For the fiber coupler fabrication, the side polishing and the fused biconical tapered methods have been developed. These specialty fiber couplers have been applied to optical coherence tomography, fluorescence spectroscopy, fiber sensors, and optical communication systems. This review aims to provide a detailed statement on the recent progress and novel applications of specialty fiber couplers.

We report the fabrication of double clad fiber (DCF) and DCF coupler, suitable for fiber based imaging systems requiring the dual-channel transmission. Unlike the conventional DCF which uses silica for both cladding layers, the proposed DCF uses a low-index polymer for its outer-cladding layer coated over the conventional silica inner-cladding layer. The DCF is drawn with a conventional SMF preform but a low-index polymer coating is used for both jacket and outercladding of the fiber. To achieve the cladding mode coupling, a DCF coupler is fabricated by simply twisting two pieces of the proposed DCF after removing the polymer-coating at contacting regions. A cladding mode coupling ratio of 30% was achieved with a contact length of 16 cm. The proposed DCF and DCF coupler were employed in a composite optical coherence tomography (OCT) and fluorescence spectroscopy (FS) system, and both OCT images and FS signal from a plant tissue are measured simultaneously.

High-resolution optical coherence tomography (OCT) retinal imaging is important to noninvasively visualize the various retinal structures to aid in better understanding of the pathogenesis of vision-robbing diseases. However, conventional OCT systems have a trade-off between lateral resolution and depth-of-focus. In this report, we present the development of a focus-stacking OCT system with automatic focus optimization for high-resolution, extended-focal-range clinical retinal imaging by incorporating a variable-focus liquid lens into the sample arm optics. Retinal layer tracking and selection was performed using a graphics processing unit accelerated processing platform for focus optimization, providing real-time layer-specific en face visualization. After optimization, multiple volumes focused at different depths were acquired, registered, and stitched together to yield a single, high-resolution focus-stacked dataset. Using this system, we show high-resolution images of the retina and optic nerve head, from which we extracted clinically relevant parameters such as the nerve fiber layer thickness and lamina cribrosa microarchitecture.

We present a multiscale sensorless adaptive optics (SAO) OCT system capable of imaging retinal structure and vasculature with various fields-of-view (FOV) and resolutions. Using a single deformable mirror and exploiting the polarization properties of light, the SAO-OCT-A was implemented in a compact and easy to operate system. With the ability to adjust the beam diameter at the pupil, retinal imaging was demonstrated at two different numerical apertures with the same system. The general morphological structure and retinal vasculature could be observed with a few tens of micrometer-scale lateral resolution with conventional OCT and OCT-A scanning protocols with a 1.7-mm-diameter beam incident at the pupil and a large FOV (15 deg× 15 deg). Changing the system to a higher numerical aperture with a 5.0-mm-diameter beam incident at the pupil and the SAO aberration correction, the FOV was reduced to 3 deg× 3 deg for fine detailed imaging of morphological structure and microvasculature such as the photoreceptor mosaic and capillaries. Multiscale functional SAO-OCT imaging was performed on four healthy subjects, demonstrating its functionality and potential for clinical utility.

In this report, which is an international collaboration of OCT, adaptive optics, and control research, we demonstrate the data-based online nonlinear extremum-seeker (DONE) algorithm to guide the image based optimization for wavefront sensorless adaptive optics (WFSL-AO) OCT for in vivo human retinal imaging. The ocular aberrations were corrected using a multi-actuator adaptive lens after linearization of the hysteresis in the piezoelectric actuators. The DONE algorithm succeeded in drastically improving image quality and the OCT signal intensity, up to a factor seven, while achieving a computational time of 1 ms per iteration, making it applicable for many high speed applications. We demonstrate the correction of five aberrations using 70 iterations of the DONE algorithm performed over 2.8 s of continuous volumetric OCT acquisition. Data acquired from an imaging phantom and in vivo from human research volunteers are presented. (C) 2017 Optical Society of America

PURPOSE: To investigate exudative macular disease, multifunctional optical coherence tomography (MF-OCT) using a 1-μm probe band was developed. The clinical utility of MF-OCT was examined in a descriptive case series. METHODS: Ten eyes of nine subjects with exudative macular disease, including one eye with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), one eye with idiopathic neovascular maculopathy, and eight eyes with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV), were investigated. Areas of 6 × 6 mm(2) around the pathologic region were scanned with 512 × 1024 depth scans in 6.6 seconds. Structural OCT, Doppler optical coherence angiography (OCA), and cumulative phase retardation images were obtained with a single measurement. Each MF-OCT image visualized the structure, vasculature, and birefringence. Degree of polarization uniformity values were also obtained for selective visualization of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). The MF-OCT images were compared with conventional ophthalmic images. RESULTS: Abnormal vasculatures were observed with Doppler OCA in all eyes, which presented high similarity to indocyanine green angiography in the midphase. The RPE and exudation in the pathologic regions were discriminated in one eye with AMD and five of eight eyes with PCV. Cumulative phase retardation visualized fibrosis scars in two of the PCV cases. CONCLUSIONS: Multifunctional OCT revealed depth-resolved abnormal vasculatures, the integrity of the RPE and choroid, discrimination of the RPE and exudation, and existence of fibrosis scars in exudative macular diseases. Interpretation of MF-OCT examination is well matched with conventional ophthalmic examination. These results suggest that MF-OCT can be used as a noninvasive ophthalmic examination tool prior to conventional examinations in clinical routines.

An advanced version of Jones matrix optical coherence tomography (JMT) is demonstrated for Doppler and polarization sensitive imaging of the posterior eye. JMT is capable of providing localized flow tomography by Doppler detection and investigating the birefringence property of tissue through a three-dimensional (3-D) Jones matrix measurement. Owing to an incident polarization multiplexing scheme based on passive optical components, this system is stable, safe in a clinical environment, and cost effective. Since the properties of this version of JMT provide intrinsic compensation for system imperfection, the system is easy to calibrate. Compared with the previous version of JMT, this advanced JMT achieves a sufficiently long depth measurement range for clinical cases of posterior eye disease. Furthermore, a fine spectral shift compensation method based on the cross-correlation of calibration signals was devised for stabilizing the phase of OCT, which enables a high sensitivity Doppler OCT measurement. In addition, a new theory of JMT which integrates the Jones matrix measurement, Doppler measurement, and scattering measurement is presented. This theory enables a sensitivity-enhanced scattering OCT and high-sensitivity Doppler OCT. These new features enable the application of this system to clinical cases. A healthy subject and a geographic atrophy patient were measured in vivo, and simultaneous imaging of choroidal vasculature and birefringence structures are demonstrated.

To investigate morphological alternation in corneal stroma induced by collagen cross-linking (CXL) treatment, polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) capable of providing scattering, phase retardation, and degree of polarization uniformity (DOPU) images were employed on fresh bovine cornea. Significant corneal thickness reduction was observed after the CXL procedure, and its variation was quantitatively analyzed. From the scattering contrast, a hyperscattering region was observed in the anterior of the cornea immediately after the CXL procedure and its range increased with time. Within the scattering region, a slow increase was observed in the phase retardation image, and a discriminable characteristic was found in the DOPU image. A global threshold value was empirically determined from the averaged DOPU depth profile in order to locate the effective cross-linking depth. In addition to the standard protocol, an accelerated CXL procedure shortening the treatment time with higher intensity of ultraviolet-A (UV-)A power was also performed. From the measurement results after the two different CXL protocols, different cross-linking aspects were found and their difference was discussed in terms of the effectiveness of cross-linking. Based on this study, we believe that PS-OCT could be a promising optical imaging modality to evaluate the progression and effectiveness of the riboflavin/UV-A induced corneal collagen cross-linking.

In this study, polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) capable of providing polarization contrasts such as phase retardation and degree of polarization uniformity (DOPU) was used for visualizing human meibomian glands (MGs) and investigating morphological characteristics of them. Especially, with the help of the DOPU contrast, MGs were exclusively extracted from the volumetric OCT image. In vivo PS-OCT measurements were performed on the upper eyelids of different age groups. From these measurements, different age-dependent aspects of the MG structure were also observed. Based on these observations, it can be inferred that the PS-OCT system has the potential for clinical diagnosis and investigation of MG-related dry eye diseases like MG dysfunction (MGD) and acinar atrophy.

We present an integrated optical system that consists of optical coherence tomography (OCT) and laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) spectroscopy for multimodal analysis of pearls and pearl treatments. The OCT source and the LIF excitation beams were aligned together to illuminate the same spot of a pearl fixed on the sample stage that was under rotation. As a result, both OCT images and LIF spectra of the pearls were detected at the same time and also at the same place. For OCT, a 1310 nm-centered swept laser source was used. For LIF, a 405 nm laser diode was used and a lensed multimode fiber was utilized as a fluorescence probe. The tomographic investigation on the internal structure of a pearl allowed us to evaluate and categorize the pearl nondestructively as was previously reported. In addition, the measurements of fluorescence spectrum and its decaying rate helped to determine the species of mother oyster. The proposed multimodal analysis made it possible to classify the pearls and also to disclose the treatments made on the pearls.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been utilized to evaluate pearls including their nuclei noninvasively. By visualizing the internal structure of a pearl, we could measure the thickness of its nacre layer, observe the fine sub-structure of the nacre, and inspect the nucleus through the nacre. The system also allowed us to classify pearls into beaded- and non-beaded ones; usually, the saltwater ones have nuclei even though there are beaded freshwater pears and non-beaded saltwater pearls. Any cracks, crevices, or blemishes not only in the nacre but in the nucleus of a pearl could be clearly visualized. The OCT system was based on a 20 kHz swept-source of a 1.31microm central wavelength and an 110 nm full-width-at-half-maximum (FWHM) bandwidth. To get the 2-D images all around the circumference of a pearl, the pearl was rotated by a motorized rotating stage. And to achieve 3-D volume images, galvano-scans were made along two axes. Of all things, the OCT allowed us to check the use of a forbidden nucleus, usually made of a Giant Clam shell thus fragile, without hurting the pearl. With this modality, we believe, it would be possible evaluating pearls both in qualitative and quantitative. Comparison with the images taken with an optical microscope and X-ray radiograph gives the refractive index of pearl as about 1.53 in average.