Optical coherence tomography (OCT) - An emerging technology for three-dimensional imaging of biological tissues

Optical imaging technologies offer high resolution non-contact visualization of tissues with a large variety of contrast modalities. However tissues are optically inhomogeneous due to microscopic variations of the refractive index. The resulting scattering limits resolution and imaging depth. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a relatively new approach for obtaining 3-D high resolution imaging of tissue which is successfully used in the diagnosis of the eye diseases. However, OCT is not limited to medical applications. This review will cover theory and technology of OCT and provide an overview over current use and future prospects in tissue engineering.