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Depth profiling of photothermal compound concentrations using phase sensitive optical coherence tomography

This paper describes the use of a phase sensitive spectral domain optical coherence tomography system to detect photothermal signals as a function of depth, enabling concentration images to be obtained from biological tissue. An advantage of using photothermal compounds is that they can be multifunctional, being used as contrast agents for imaging and also as a therapeutic drug. This method provides depth profile concentration of different tissue layers, such as the epithelial layer where most cancers originate, and when a specific dose is achieved, the temperature of the drug can be properly increased to damage the surrounding tissues.