koherentstomograafia

KoherentsTOMOGRAAFIA is a term used to describe a family of tomographic imaging techniques that exploit the coherence properties of waves, typically light, to reconstruct the internal structure of a sample. By measuring how waves interfere, scatter, or shift phase as they pass through a medium, these methods produce cross-sectional or volumetric images with depth-sensitive information.

Principles and methods

Most koherentsTOMOGRAAFIA approaches rely on interferometry or coherence gating. A probe wave interacts with the sample and is combined with a reference wave. Scanning the probe across the sample or varying illumination angles yields data that encode depth-resolved or multi-dimensional information. Computational reconstruction converts this data into a two-dimensional slice or three-dimensional volume that represents optical properties such as reflectivity or refractive index.

Examples and variants

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is the most widely used form of koherentsTOMOGRAAFIA, achieving micrometer-scale resolution in biological tissues, notably the retina. Other variants include holographic tomography, diffraction tomography, and coherence-domain imaging approaches used in materials science and industrial inspection.

Applications

Applications span medicine, biology, and materials science, including ophthalmology, dermatology, cardiology, pathology, and non-destructive testing. The techniques enable non-invasive, in situ visualization of internal microstructures, with ongoing developments in resolution, speed, and multi-modal integration.

History

The field builds on advances in low-coherence interferometry from the late 20th century, with OCT emerging in the 1990s as a practical flagship technique. Continuous improvements in light sources, detectors, and computational algorithms have broadened the reach of koherentsTOMOGRAAFIA across research and clinical settings. See also Optical coherence tomography; interferometry; tomography.