Patent ID: 8220924

Claim:
An apparatus for generating a two-dimensional image of an object, comprising: an optical coherence tomography (OCT) optical system including: a light source for emitting light; a splitter for splitting the light emitted from the light source into measurement light guided to a measurement optical path and reference light guided to a reference optical path; a scanner that is arranged in the measurement optical path for scanning the object in at least one of X and Y directions with the measurement light; and a detector configured to detect a spectrum of interference light of the measurement light from the measurement optical path reflected on the object and the reference light from the reference optical path at each of X and Y scanning positions of the measurement light on the object; and a processor configured to obtain a phase change of an interference signal contained in the spectrum at each of the X and Y scanning positions and to generate a two-dimensional image representing, in the X and Y directions, a depth position, in a depth direction, of a portion of the object where reflection is strong.