High-speed and wide-field endoscopic optical coherence tomography imaging of the oral mucosa with a micromotor imaging catheter and polarization diversity detection

Due to the complex geometry of the oral cavity, it is challenging to perform wide-field optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging of different regions of the oral mucosa, particularly in patients with opening difficulty due to submucosa fibrosis. In addition to changes in the tissue architectures, angiogenesis has been demonstrated to play an important role in the progression of oral neoplasm. In this study, we have developed a micromotor imaging catheter allowing high-speed and wide-field OCT and OCT angiography imaging of the oral mucosa. Leveraging polarization diversity detection, it ensures an optimal detection of the OCT signal for the entire circumference.