High-resolution subsurface articular cartilage imaging based on Fourier-domain common-path optical coherence tomography

We demonstrate the subsurface imaging of an articular cartilage using Fourier-domain common-path optical coherence tomography. The bare fiber probe integrated with a hypodermic needle provides the rigidness required to perform lateral scanning with less microscale bending. By submerging both the probe and the specimen into saline solution, we not only reduce the beam divergence, but also increase the signal-to-noise ratio compared with the measurement in free space. Our system can differentiate the characteristic cartilage zones and identity various micro-structured defects in an ex vivo chicken knee cartilage, thus demonstrating that it could be used to conduct early arthritis diagnosis and intraoperative endo-microscopy.