Simultaneous Multichannel A-Scans in Photonic Time Stretch OCT

Over the past few decades, significant efforts have been made to enhance the imaging speed of optical coherence tomography (OCT) [1]. Notably, the photonic time-stretch (PTS) approach, which leverages chromatic dispersion to transform the time-consuming spectral measurement into high-speed temporal waveform acquisition using a single-pixel photodetector, has achieved megahertz-scale axial scan rates, matching the laser repetition rate [2]. Furthermore, advancements in signal processing techniques have addressed the challenges of managing the large data volumes generated by these high-speed systems [3]. However, lateral scanning still relies on mechanical methods or acousto-optical techniques, which constrain the overall imaging throughput [4].