# Optically computed compressive OCT for ultra-high speed phase-resolved dynamic imaging

> **NIH NIH R21** · NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · 2022 · $191,875

## Abstract

Project Summary
 The objective of this study is to investigate an optically computed compressive optical coherence tomography (OCC-
OCT) technology for ultra-high speed phase-resolved dynamic imaging. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a cross-
sectional imaging modality based on low coherence light interferometry. OCT has been used to image mechanical motion
at cellular and tissue level for various biomedical applications. However, the state-of-the-art OCT technology does not
provide sufficiently high spatiotemporal resolution to image en face plane or other arbitrary 2D planes, which limits its
capability to study many biologically significant dynamic events. Here we propose an OCC-OCT technology that tracks
subtle motion within an extended field of view, by utilizing an innovative optical computation strategy for snap shot phase
resolved imaging. To achieve depth resolution and phase sensitivity, the OCC-OCT system uses a hardware optical
computation module to calculate the inner product between interferometric spectra and a chosen Fourier basis function. In
addition, the output of the optical computation module is hardware compressed within the framework of compressive
sensing. A digital micromirror device (DMD) imposes a set of random spatial masks during the camera’s exposure time.
Given the known random pattern used for modulation, high speed scenes are reconstructed within the framework of
compressive sensing by promoting sparsity. With unprecedented spatiotemporal accuracy, OCC-OCT enables quantitative
analysis of dynamic phenomenon (A(r, t)) on its temporal evolution (∂A(r, t)/∂t) and spatial propagation (∇A(r, t)), which
is crucial to establish mathematical models to reveal the underlying mechanisms of dynamic events in biological systems.
In this project, OCC-OCT system will be developed and evaluated. The imaging system will be used to perform spatially
resolved dynamic imaging and 3D cell tracking. OCC-OCT is anticipated to advance many fields of biophotonics,
including optical coherence elastography, optical coherence angiography, optogenetics and neural activity imaging, 3D
tracking of unlabeled cells, etc.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10321947
- **Project number:** 5R21GM140438-02
- **Recipient organization:** NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
- **Principal Investigator:** Xuan Liu
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $191,875
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-01-01 → 2022-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10321947

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10321947, Optically computed compressive OCT for ultra-high speed phase-resolved dynamic imaging (5R21GM140438-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10321947. Licensed CC0.

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