Electrical versus optical generation of leader signals for downconversion leader-follower optical coherence tomography

The paper refers to advancements in the production of en-face optical coherence tomography (OCT) images from different depths in a sample in real time, using Downconversion Leader-Follower optical coherence tomography method. So far, for a sample placed in an interferometer (Follower), all previous Downconversion Leader-Follower reports employed an interferometer (Leader) to determine the depth where the OCT signal is selected from. In this paper, for the first time, the Leader interferometer is replaced by an arbitrary waveform generator, i.e., optical generation of the reference signal to perform downconversion is replaced by electrical synthesis. In this way, en-face images from different depths are presented in real time, without recurring to a second interferometer. Avenues opened by electrical synthesis of signals otherwise provided by interferometers are discussed, with potential to be adopted in signal processing, manipulation and presentation of high-resolution images in orthogonal orientations to serve better diagnosis.