Development of Portable Optical Coherence Tomography

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive real-time medical imaging technique similar to ultrasound but with higher imaging resolution about 5 ~ 15 microns. The penetration depth of OCT in the human tissues generally reaches 2 mm. OCT has already widely been used in ophthalmology for retina or cornea structure imaging. More recently, OCT is also applied in cardiology, otolaryngology, dentistry and so on. In dermatology, the common diagnosis method is biopsy or surface observation by an experienced doctor. However, there is no other technique able to clearly observe the internal structure of in vivo human skin. In this three year project cooperating with Chang Gung Hospital, we will develop a portable OCT system for real-time imaging in vivo human skin to support diagnosis in dermatological clinics. In the first year, the full-range optical coherence tomography technique will be developed to double the image range for the requirement of better skin image depth in dermatology. In the second year, we will incorporate the graphic processing unit (GPU) for parallel computing to accelerate image processing speed in order to achieve real-time 3D imaging. In the third year, one hand-held probe will be developed to realize the portable OCT system for clinical use.

Project ID:PB10308-2701
External Project ID:MOST103-2221-E182-015