Chromatic polarization effects of swept waveforms in FDML lasers and fiber spools.

We present detailed investigations of chromatic polarization effects, caused by fiber spools used in FDML lasers and buffering spools for rapidly wavelength swept lasers. We introduce a novel wavelength swept FDML laser source, specially tailored for polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography (OCT) which switches between two different linear polarization states separated by 45°, i.e. 90° on the Poincaré sphere. The polarization maintaining laser cavity itself generates a stable linear polarization state and uses an external buffering technique in order to provide alternating polarization states for successive wavelength sweeps. The design of the setup is based on a comprehensive analysis of the polarization output from FDML lasers, using a novel 150 MHz polarization analyzer. We investigate the fiber polarization properties related to swept source OCT for different fiber delay topologies and analyze the polarization state of different FDML laser sources.

The sensitivity of patient specific IMRT QC to systematic MLC leaf bank offset errors.

PURPOSE: Patient specific IMRT QC is performed routinely in many clinics as a safeguard against errors and inaccuracies which may be introduced during the complex planning, data transfer, and delivery phases of this type of treatment. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the feasibility of detecting systematic errors in MLC leaf bank position with patient specific checks. METHODS: 9 head and neck (H&N) and 14 prostate IMRT beams were delivered using MLC files containing systematic offsets (+/- 1 mm in two banks, +/- 0.5 mm in two banks, and 1 mm in one bank of leaves). The beams were measured using both MAPCHECK (Sun Nuclear Corp., Melbourne, FL) and the aS1000 electronic portal imaging device (Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, CA). Comparisons with calculated fields, without offsets, were made using commonly adopted criteria including absolute dose (AD) difference, relative dose difference, distance to agreement (DTA), and the gamma index. RESULTS: The criteria most sensitive to systematic leaf bank offsets were the 3% AD, 3 mm DTA for MAPCHECK and the gamma index with 2% AD and 2 mm DTA for the EPID. The criterion based on the relative dose measurements was the least sensitive to MLC offsets. More highly modulated fields, i.e., H&N, showed greater changes in the percentage of passing points due to systematic MLC inaccuracy than prostate fields. CONCLUSIONS: None of the techniques or criteria tested is sufficiently sensitive, with the population of IMRT fields, to detect a systematic MLC offset at a clinically significant level on an individual field. Patient specific QC cannot, therefore, substitute for routine QC of the MLC itself.

5-Aminolevulinic acid-induced protoporphyrin IX levels in tissue of human malignant brain tumors.

Protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) produced from exogenous, orally administered 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) displays high tumor-selective uptake and is being successfully employed for fluorescence-guided resection (FGR) of human malignant gliomas. Furthermore, the phototoxicity of PpIX can be utilized for photodynamic therapy (PDT) of brain tumors, which has been shown previously. Here, the absolute PpIX concentration in human brain tissue was investigated following oral ALA administration (20 mg kg(-1) b.w.). An extraction procedure was used to quantify PpIX in macroscopic tissue samples, weighing 0.013-0.214 g, obtained during FGR. The PpIX concentration was significantly higher in vital grade IV tumors (5.8 ± 4.8 µm, mean ± SD, range 0-28.2 µm, n = 8) as compared with grade III tumors (0.2 ± 0.4 µm, mean ± SD, range 0-0.9 µm, n = 4). There was also a large heterogeneity within grade IV tumors with PpIX displaying significantly lower levels in infiltration zones and necrotic regions as compared with vital tumor parts. The average PpIX concentration in vital grade IV tumor parts was in the range previously shown sufficient for PDT-induced tissue damage following irradiation. However, the feasibility of PDT for grade III brain tumors and for grade IV brain tumors displaying mainly necrotic tissue areas without solid tumor parts needs to be further investigated.

Raman-pumped Fourier-domain mode-locked laser: analysis of operation and application for optical coherence tomography.

We demonstrate a Raman-pumped Fourier-domain mode-locked (FDML) fiber laser and optical coherence tomography imaging with this source. The wavelength sweep range of only 30 nm centered around 1550 nm results in limited axial resolution, hence a nonbiological sample is imaged. An output power of 1.9 mW was achieved at a sweep rate of 66 kHz and a maximum ranging depth of ~2.5 cm. Roll-off characteristics are found to be similar to FDML lasers with semiconductor optical amplifiers as gain media. The application of Raman gain also enables unperturbed cavity ring-down experiments in FDML lasers for the first time, providing direct access to the photon lifetime in the laser cavity. Good agreement with nonswept cw operation is proof of the stationary operation of FDML lasers.

Real time en face Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography with direct hardware frequency demodulation.

We demonstrate en face swept source optical coherence tomography (ss-OCT) without requiring a Fourier transformation step. The electronic optical coherence tomography (OCT) interference signal from a k-space linear Fourier domain mode-locked laser is mixed with an adjustable local oscillator, yielding the analytic reflectance signal from one image depth for each frequency sweep of the laser. Furthermore, a method for arbitrarily shaping the spectral intensity profile of the laser is presented, without requiring the step of numerical apodization. In combination, these two techniques enable sampling of the in-phase and quadrature signal with a slow analog-to-digital converter and allow for real-time display of en face projections even for highest axial scan rates. Image data generated with this technique is compared to en face images extracted from a three-dimensional OCT data set. This technique can allow for real-time visualization of arbitrarily oriented en face planes for the purpose of alignment, registration, or operator-guided survey scans while simultaneously maintaining the full capability of high-speed volumetric ss-OCT functionality.

K-space linear Fourier domain mode locked laser and applications for optical coherence tomography.

We report on a Fourier Domain Mode Locked (FDML) wavelength swept laser source with a highly linear time-frequency sweep characteristic and demonstrate OCT imaging without k-space resampling prior to Fourier transformation. A detailed theoretical framework is provided and different strategies how to determine the optimum drive waveform of the piezo-electrically actuated optical bandpass-filter in the FDML laser are discussed. An FDML laser with a relative optical frequency deviation ??nu/nu smaller than 8 x10(-5) over a 100 nm spectral bandwidth at 1300 nm is presented, enabling high resolution OCT over long ranging depths. Without numerical time-to-frequency resampling and without spectral apodization a sensitivity roll off of 4 dB over 2 mm, 12.5 dB over 4 mm and 26.5 dB over 1 cm at 3.5 mus sweep duration and 106.6 dB maximum sensitivity at 9.2 mW average power is achieved. The axial resolution in air degrades from 14 to 21 mum over 4 mm imaging depth. The compensation of unbalanced dispersion in the OCT sample arm by an adapted tuning characteristic of the source is demonstrated. Good stability of the system without feedback-control loops is observed over hours.