Differential spectral interferometry: an imaging technique for biomedical applications

Differential spectral interferometry (DSI), a novel method of biomedical imaging that combines the high dynamic range of optical coherence tomography (OCT) with inherently parallel low-bandwidth image acquisition of spectral interferometry (SI), is described. DSI efficiently removes the deleterious dc background inherent in SI measurements while maintaining the parallel nature of SI. We demonstrate DSI on both synthetic and biological samples. Because DSI preserves the low-bandwidth, parallel nature of SI, it is competitive with OCT for biomedical applications in terms of image quality and acquisition rate. (C) 2003 Optical Society of America.