The Progress of Optical Coherence Tomography in Industry Applications

Abstract

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a nonintrusive optical imaging method offering micrometer-scale spatial resolution, enabling the generation of internal structural cross-sectional images. Since the first OCT was invented in the early 1990s, its utilization has become prevalent in the field of ophthalmology and has become one of the golden standards in clinical diagnosis. Beyond the extensive research in biomedical fields, because of the accomplished exceptional spatial resolution and rapid imaging acquisition rate, the OCT has also been explored as an emerging solution for characterizing structure of new materials, detecting defects of industrial products in situ. In this paper, we reviewed and summarized recent progresses of OCT in several industrial applications, including structural analysis of composite materials, quality inspection of printed electronic devices, and analysis of industrial fluids. Meanwhile, the potential challenges and future development of OCT application in these fields are also outlined.