In fiber-based optical coherence tomography (OCT), the interference fringes suffer from the
fading effect due to misalignment of the light polarization states between the reference and
sample arms, resulting in sensitivity degradation and image intensity variation. We
theoretically and experimentally analyzed the relation between the misalignment and the
fading coefficient. Assuming that the variation of the light polarization in single-mode fiber
(SMF) was a random process, we statistically quantified the fading effect. Furthermore, in …

Flexible fiber-optic based imaging probes have significantly broadened the clinical
application scope of optical coherence tomography (OCT), enabling high-resolution imaging
of several regions in human body. The movement of flexible catheter causes the
asymmetries of fiber geometry and stress, resulting in the presence of fiber birefringence.
Scanning and flexing of the OCT probes results in variations in the polarization states of light
from the sample arm. When the polarization states of light from the sample are misaligned …