Application of the air‐puff swept source optical coherence tomography (SS‐OCT) instrument to determine the influence of viscoelasticity on the relation between overall the air‐puff force and corneal apex displacement of porcine corneas ex vivo is demonstrated. Simultaneous recording of time‐evolution of the tissue displacement and air pulse stimulus allows obtaining valuable information related in part to the mechanical properties of the cornea. A novel approach based on quantitative analysis of the corneal hysteresis of OCT data is presented. The corneal response to the air pulse is assessed for different well‐controlled intraocular pressure (IOP) levels and for the progression of cross‐linking‐induced stiffness of the cornea. Micrometer resolution, fast acquisition and noncontact character of the air‐puff SS‐OCT measurements have potential to improve the in vivo assessment of mechanical properties of the human corneas.

We develop high-resolution optical coherence tomography (OCT) system with high-speed acousto-optic tunable lens. Stroboscopic pulsed illumination is used for the first time to perform time-resolved OCT imaging with acousto-optic tunable focusing. The operation of ultrahigh-speed tunable acousto-optic lens is demonstrated theoretically and experimentally. Focal position tuning at MHz frequency range is experimentally shown in the imaging system leading to OCT images with extended depth of focus. Imaging with active optical elements is helpful for improvement of photon collection efficiency, depth of focus and enhancement of the image quality.

We present a novel optical configuration that allows for generation of ultra-high speed dynamic Bessel beams and dynamic bottle beams. The method is based on combination of the axisymmetric acousto-optic device and the spatial filtering enabled by a mask or a digital micromirror device. Selected features of dynamic non-diffracting beams and bottle beams are investigated using time-resolved approach with stroboscopic pulsed illumination, including spatial intensity distribution, spatial modulation factors, MHz-range temporal modulation, and scalability. The numerical simulations based on Fourier optics as well as experimental realizations are demonstrated.

We demonstrate the application of focus-tunable acousto-optic lens technology in confocal microscopy for a high-speed axial scanning of the object. The advantages of the proposed approach include high axial scan rate, no mechanical sample movement, no additional non-symmetric aberrations, and the control of the effective depth of focus. The acousto-optic lens operating at the focus tuning rate of 300 kHz is developed and implemented in scanning laser confocal microscopy. The performance of the instrumentation is presented using test targets. Rapid focus tuning may enhance in vivo three-dimensional imaging in confocal microscopy.

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