Fiber-optic catheter-based polarization-sensitive OCT for radio-frequency ablation monitoring.

An all-fiber optic catheter-based polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography system is demonstrated. A novel multiplexing method was used to illuminate the sample, splitting the light from a 58.5 kHz Fourier-domain mode-locked laser such that two different polarization states, alternated in time, are generated by two semiconductor optical amplifiers. A 2.3 mm forward-view cone-scanning catheter probe was designed, fabricated, and used to acquire sample scattering intensity and phase retardation images. The system was first verified with a quarter-wave plate and then by obtaining intensity and phase retardation images of high-birefringence plastic, human skin in vivo, and untreated and thermally ablated porcine myocardium ex vivo. The system can potentially in vivo image of the cardiac wall to aid radio-frequency ablation therapy for cardiac arrhythmias.