Abstract

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive biomedical imaging technique that provides three-dimensional tissue information with micrometer-scale resolution and millimeter-scale penetration. OCT has been widely adopted in many clinical applications, especially in ophthalmology, but conventional single-beam fiber-based systems face limitations in their speed and size. To address these challenges, this dissertation studies high-speed parallel OCT systems based on space-division multiplexing (SDM) and photonic integrated circuit (PIC) technology. To miniaturize the parallel OCT system, this dissertation employed PICs to replace discrete fiber-based components with photonic chip implementations. OCT-oriented PIC components, including both passive components and integrated photodetectors, are developed and optimized in terms of operation wavelength, insertion loss, and transmission bandwidth. These components are validated through simulations and experimental measurements, then connected into system-level circuits and assembled into a benchtop PIC-based parallel OCT system. This dissertation also developed a four-channel fiber-based SDM-OCT system for human retinal imaging, deployed in the clinic. The system achieves an effective A-scan rate of 800 kHz, enabling the acquisition of structural OCT and OCT angiography in just a few seconds. It also extends the field-of-view through several single-shot scans and montaging. Clinical feasibility studies were conducted to evaluate the parallel OCT system in both healthy subjects and patients, demonstrating effective pathologic localization and improved screening efficiency. To address the computational demands of real-time imaging and large-volume data processing associated with OCT, this dissertation developed a graphics processing unit (GPU)-based OCT signal processing pipeline and software framework, where each processing step is designed and optimized for GPU computation, and the entire framework leverages parallel threads to support efficient data handling and a smooth user experience. This framework optimized a time-lapse multimodal imaging system for live-cell applications, including human heart organoids and mouse embryos. As an extension of OCT functional capabilities, this dissertation developed a method using OCT circular scans to track the transverse and axial motion of biological samples at speeds ranging from several micrometers per second to several centimeters per second. Fast and high-precision measurements of the magnitude and direction of the sample’s motion can be achieved by adaptively controlling circular scan patterns and applying interframe and intraframe analyses. This method has been validated and further explored for ocular motor assessment to provide dynamic biomarkers beyond static OCT imaging. Overall, this dissertation advances the development of the next generation of OCT through parallel imaging, integrated photonics, real-time processing, and motion-tracking capabilities. It supports current OCT systems in becoming faster, more compact, and more functional.

Committee Chair

Chao Zhou

Committee Members

Janet Sorrells; Matthew Lew; Quing Zhu; Rithwick Rajagopal

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Author's Department

Electrical & Systems Engineering

Author's School

McKelvey School of Engineering

Document Type

Dissertation

Date of Award

4-29-2026

Language

English (en)

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Available for download on Tuesday, June 15, 2027

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