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Bioengineering
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Biomedical Applications of Optical Coherence Tomography, Third Edition
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Biomedical Applications of Optical Coherence Tomography, Third Edition

A special issue of Bioengineering (ISSN 2306-5354). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomedical Engineering and Biomaterials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 1727

Editor

Dr. Shintaro Horie

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Institute of Science Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Interests: ophthalmology; retinal imaging; vitreoretinal surgery; diabetic retinopathy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The development of optical coherence tomography (OCT) represents a notable breakthrough in retinal imaging and ophthalmology. It provides internal information about the retina, choroid, posterior vitreous, and even the anterior segments of the eye. Since the first commercial OCT instrument was introduced in 1996, its technology has evolved from time-domain to spectral-domain (high-definition, or Fourier-domain) to swept-source. The latter method is indispensable in modern ophthalmology clinics. Furthermore, OCT applications are increasingly adopted across other medical fields, with great potential to establish novel biomarkers.

This Special Issue will focus on the most recent biomedical applications of optical coherence tomography. The addressed topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Optical coherence tomography;
  • Optical coherence microscopy;
  • Optical coherence angiography;
  • Dynamic OCT;
  • Doppler OCT;
  • Polarization-sensitive OCT;
  • Spectroscopic OCT;
  • Optical coherence elastography;
  • OCT and artificial intelligence;
  • OCT for basic research (ex vivo, in vitro, or in vivo models);
  • OCT for clinical studies in the field of biomedical research.

Original research will be prioritized, but critical reviews about the state of the art, current limitations, and future perspectives are also welcome.

Dr. Shintaro Horie
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Bioengineering is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • retinal imaging
  • optical coherence tomography
  • optics
  • biophotonics

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Related Special Issues

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 3254 KB  
Article
Portable TD-OCT Scanner for Dental Use
by Tatsuo Shiina and Seiroh Okaneya
Bioengineering 2026, 13(7), 743; https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering13070743 (registering DOI) - 25 Jun 2026
Viewed by 131
Abstract
A portable OCT scanner usable for dental applications is designed to be compact (B4 notebook size), lightweight, and capable of DC battery operation, enabling chairside use and mobility in home medical care. TD-OCT faces the challenge of a slower measurement speed compared to [...] Read more.
A portable OCT scanner usable for dental applications is designed to be compact (B4 notebook size), lightweight, and capable of DC battery operation, enabling chairside use and mobility in home medical care. TD-OCT faces the challenge of a slower measurement speed compared to SD/SS-OCT. In this study, by utilizing multiple rotating reflectors and combining them with a 3 × 3 fiber coupler, a measurement range of over 10 mm and a measurement speed of 1000 scans per second were achieved. Additionally, the dental intraoral probe was designed to ensure high accessibility, allowing free positioning within the oral cavity, with an ingeniously compact optical system. A cylindrical probe with a diameter of 6 mmϕ and a length of 10 mm was developed to enable tooth measurement. This study demonstrated the capability to evaluate attenuation coefficients derived from material properties, starting with measurements of caries and gums. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomedical Applications of Optical Coherence Tomography, Third Edition)
21 pages, 35791 KB  
Article
Sensitivity Enhancement of Dynamic Full-Field Optical Coherence Tomography Using Ratio-Free Detection and Partial-Field Illumination for Retinal Organoid Imaging
by Tual Monfort
Bioengineering 2026, 13(7), 716; https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering13070716 - 23 Jun 2026
Viewed by 127
Abstract
Time-domain dynamic full-field optical coherence tomography (D-FFOCT) is a powerful label-free imaging modality that enables functional visualization of cellular activity in living tissues with subcellular resolution. However, its sensitivity remains a major limitation for imaging highly scattering three-dimensional (3D) biological models such as [...] Read more.
Time-domain dynamic full-field optical coherence tomography (D-FFOCT) is a powerful label-free imaging modality that enables functional visualization of cellular activity in living tissues with subcellular resolution. However, its sensitivity remains a major limitation for imaging highly scattering three-dimensional (3D) biological models such as retinal organoids, where incoherent background and inefficient optical flux distribution reduce dynamic contrast and limit imaging depth. In this work, we introduce a ratio-free optical configuration for time-domain D-FFOCT that enables continuous tuning of the sample-to-reference field ratio while minimizing photon losses and suppressing parasitic reflections. This polarization-based architecture allows optimal redistribution of optical flux according to sample scattering conditions and improves sensitivity under both power-limited and dose-limited conditions. Compared with conventional non-polarizing beam splitter configurations, the proposed approach provides a 2-fold (3 dB) sensitivity improvement through optical optimization alone. In addition, we investigate for the first time the use of partial-field illumination (PFI) in time-domain D-FFOCT to reduce incoherent background arising from multiple scattering. In retinal organoids imaged at 120 μm depth, PFI yields up to a 14.5-fold (23.2 dB) increase in dynamic signal sensitivity, while preserving functional contrast. When combined, ratio-free detection and PFI provide a cumulative sensitivity improvement of 20.5-fold (26.2 dB). These gains enable improved cellular-scale visualization in retinal organoids, including cell-resolved imaging within rosette regions, as well as improved detection of intracellular dynamics in Müller glial cell cultures. This work establishes a practical framework for sensitivity optimization in D-FFOCT and expands its potential for functional imaging, disease modeling, and live-cell monitoring in complex biological systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomedical Applications of Optical Coherence Tomography, Third Edition)
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16 pages, 2821 KB  
Article
Deep Learning for the Detection of Corneal Perforation on Anterior-Segment Optical Coherence Tomography in Microbial Keratitis
by Lucia H. Rhode, Kamini N. Reddy, Folahan Ibukun, Subeesh Kuyyadiyil, Elesh Jain, Gautam S. Parmar, Rama Chellappa and Nakul S. Shekhawat
Bioengineering 2026, 13(6), 649; https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering13060649 - 30 May 2026
Viewed by 498
Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate deep learning models for automated detection of corneal perforation in microbial keratitis using anterior segment optical coherence tomography (ASOCT) images. Methods: We enrolled 150 patients with microbiologically confirmed keratitis. Contralateral [...] Read more.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate deep learning models for automated detection of corneal perforation in microbial keratitis using anterior segment optical coherence tomography (ASOCT) images. Methods: We enrolled 150 patients with microbiologically confirmed keratitis. Contralateral healthy eyes served as controls. Ground-truth labels for perforation were established following consensus grading by two masked ophthalmologist graders. A ResNet-34 backbone was used to encode six radial ASOCT scans of an eye independently and mean-pooled into a single eye-level prediction for classification of the presence or absence of corneal perforation. Four model variants were trained. Models differed in the inclusion of healthy controls and stochastic masking of non-corneal anterior segment anatomy during training. All four model variants were evaluated with 5-fold patient-level cross-validation, and the recommended model was chosen on pooled out-of-fold (OOF) test performance. Results: All four model variants achieved high discrimination, with pooled OOF test receiver operating characteristic area under the curve (ROC AUC) between 0.924 and 0.971. The best-performing model (Model 3), which did not include healthy controls or stochastic masking of the inferior image portion during training, achieved an ROC AUC of 0.971 (95% CI, 0.943–0.993), average precision (AP) of 0.863 (95% CI, 0.713–0.963), sensitivity of 0.875 (95% CI, 0.727–1.000), specificity of 0.913 (95% CI, 0.858–0.959), and F1 of 0.750 (95% CI, 0.609–0.870) at the validation-derived Youden threshold. The addition of healthy contralateral eyes to the training set did not improve pooled OOF test metrics, and stochastic inferior blackout produced opposing effects in the two training cohort settings. In the infected-only cohort, it reduced both ROC AUC and AP, whereas in the +healthy cohort, it increased ROC AUC and substantially increased AP. Conclusions: Deep learning models achieved high diagnostic accuracy for detecting corneal perforation on ASOCT imaging in eyes with microbial keratitis. These findings support the potential role of automated ASOCT analysis as a clinical decision-support tool for identifying this vision-threatening complication. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomedical Applications of Optical Coherence Tomography, Third Edition)
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16 pages, 1033 KB  
Article
Detection and Measurement of Hypopyon on Slit Lamp Examination Versus Anterior Segment Optical Coherence Tomography
by Kamini N. Reddy, Folahan Ibukun, Kaiyang Huang, Ji Yi, Elesh Jain, Subeesh Kuyyadiyil, Gautam Parmar and Nakul S. Shekhawat
Bioengineering 2026, 13(5), 582; https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering13050582 - 19 May 2026
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 361
Abstract
Purpose: To compare hypopyon detection using anterior segment optical coherence tomography (ASOCT) versus slit lamp examination (SLE) in microbial keratitis, and to evaluate intra- and inter-grader agreement for ASOCT hypopyon measurement. Methods: Two masked graders independently evaluated ASOCT images for hypopyon [...] Read more.
Purpose: To compare hypopyon detection using anterior segment optical coherence tomography (ASOCT) versus slit lamp examination (SLE) in microbial keratitis, and to evaluate intra- and inter-grader agreement for ASOCT hypopyon measurement. Methods: Two masked graders independently evaluated ASOCT images for hypopyon presence or absence in eyes with microbial keratitis, with disagreements resolved by consensus. A subset of hypopyon eyes underwent triplicate height measurement using two methods (endothelial length and vertical height). The proportion of eyes with hypopyon, Cohen’s kappa, and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were calculated comparing diagnostic performance of ASOCT versus SLE. Results: Inter-grader agreement for hypopyon detection on ASOCT was excellent (κ = 0.94; 95% CI 0.84–1.00) and intra-grader agreement was excellent (κ = 0.89–1.00). ASOCT detected hypopyon in 67.1% of eyes versus 57.0% by SLE. Using ASOCT consensus grading as the reference standard, SLE demonstrated a detection proportion of 83.0% (95% CI, 71.4–92.1%). Intra-grader reproducibility was excellent for both endothelial length and vertical height measurements (ICC 0.977–0.996). Inter-grader agreement was good for endothelial length (ICC 0.831) and vertical height (ICC 0.827), though a statistically significant inter-grader bias was identified for vertical height only (Wilcoxon exact p = 0.006). Conclusions: Among eyes with gradable ASOCT images, ASOCT detected a greater proportion of hypopyon than SLE and demonstrated excellent intra-grader and good inter-grader measurement reproducibility. Endothelial length showed slightly superior inter-grader concordance to vertical height measurement. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomedical Applications of Optical Coherence Tomography, Third Edition)
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