Patent ID: 9696136
Date: 2017-07-04
CPC Classifications: A61B,G01B,G02B

Claim:
1. An optical coherent tomography (OCT) apparatus comprising: a light source for generating a radiation beam; a divider for splitting the beam along separate sample and reference paths; a scanner located in the sample path for scanning the beam over the sample; a detector for receiving interfered light returned from both the sample and reference paths; a processor for analyzing signals generated by the detector; and a dispersion control module located in one of the sample or reference paths, said module having an entrance face and an exit face, said module being formed from first and second materials each with substantially similar refractivities and different second order dispersion characteristics, said module being configured so that the variations in the lateral location where the beam enters the entrance face varies the relative distance traversed by the beam within the first and second materials before it exits the exit face such that by changing the lateral location where the beam enters the entrance face, the level of second order dispersion provided by the module can be varied.