Optical Coherence Tomography as an Advanced Tool in Different Applications
January 2019
TLDR Optical Coherence Tomography has potential in diagnosing hair loss and monitoring blood clotting, and could be improved for deeper tissue observation and better hair loss understanding.
The 2019 Master's thesis by JunXiao Yu from the University of California, Irvine, explored the applications of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) in various biomedical fields. The thesis demonstrated OCT's potential in early diagnosis of androgenic alopecia by measuring hair follicle density and diameter, and in monitoring blood coagulation in real-time using a novel Optical Coherence Elastography (OCE) system. The OCE system, which combined a ring-shaped Piezoelectric Transducer (PZT) with OCT, successfully quantified the elastic properties of tissue-mimicking phantoms and monitored the coagulation process in porcine blood, with results indicating changes in blood viscosity. Additionally, the thesis introduced a new Polarization Sensitive OCT (PS-OCT) system using spun fiber, which showed promise for endoscopic applications by detecting tissue birefringence in a chicken breast sample. The study suggested future work involving a 1700 nm wavelength source for deeper tissue observation and more patient involvement to enhance understanding of androgenic alopecia, as well as the application of PS-OCT to study hair follicle birefringence.