Automatic bifurcation detection utilizing pullback characteristics of bifurcation in intravascular optical coherence tomography.

Bifurcation detection in coronary arteries is significant since it influences the treatment strategy selection and optimization. Bifurcations are also reliable landmarks for image registration. Intravascular optical coherence tomography (IVOCT) is a high-resolution imaging modality that is very useful in percutaneous coronary intervention stenting optimization. We present a bifurcation identification method utilizing pullback characteristics for IVOCT, which can effectively identify the bifurcations with a small size. The longitudinal view of the pullback will appear as an outward discontinuity in the bifurcation area. By detecting this discontinuity, bifurcation can be identified with high accuracy. We also use the normal vectors method to extract the ostium of bifurcation. We compare the proposed method with the widely-used distance transformation method by clinical 5302 IVOCT images from 22 pullbacks. The average metrics of true positive rate (TPR), true negative rate (TNR), positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) for the proposed method are 86.97%, 98.50%, 85.56%, and 98.67%, respectively. TPR, PPV, and NPV by the proposed method are improved by 40.24%, 9.31%, 3.90%, and TNR is on par compared with the distance transformation method. Especially in the small bifurcation identification, TPR of the proposed method is 64.71% higher than the distance transformation method with a bifurcation area ratio less than 0.2.

Analysis and reduction of noise-induced depolarization in catheter based polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography.

In catheter based polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT), a optical fiber with a rapid rotation in the catheter can cause low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), polarization state instability, phase change of PS-OCT signals and then heavy noise-induced depolarization, which has a strong impact on the phase retardation measurement of the sample. In this paper, we analyze the noise-induced depolarization and find that the effect of depolarization can be reduced by polar decomposition after incoherent averaging in the Mueller matrix averaging (MMA) method. Namely, MMA can reduce impact of noise on phase retardation mapping. We present a Monte Carlo method based on PS-OCT to numerically describe noise-induced depolarization effect and contrast phase retardation imaging results by MMA and Jones matrix averaging (JMA) methods. The peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR) of simulated images processed by MMA is higher than about 8.9 dB than that processed by JMA. We also implement experiments of multiple biological tissues using the catheter based PS-OCT system. From the simulation and experimental results, we find the polarization contrasts processed by the MMA are better than those by JMA, especially at areas with high depolarization, because the MMA can reduce effect of noise-induced depolarization on the phase retardation measurement.

Reconstruction error model of distributed shape sensing based on the reentered frame in OFDR.

At present, the reconstruction error of optical fiber shape sensing is commonly represented by Euclidean distance error. However, the Euclidian error of shape reconstruction will be dependent on the shape complexity, which depends on length, curvature and torsion. In this paper, we establish a reconstruction error model of distributed shape sensing in optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) based on the Frenet-Serret frame and the error delivering theory, which illustrates the relationship between the reconstruction error and parameters such as curvature, torsion, fiber length and strain measurement error. We experimentally verify the feasibility and applicability of the proposed reconstruction error model by distributed optical fiber shape sensing system based on OFDR. The proposed reconstruction error model can provide a prediction of the maximal reconstruction error when the estimated range of curvature, torsion, fiber length of a shape needs to be reconstructed and strain measurement errors of OFDR system are known. It is very useful to judge whether the shape reconstruction error meets the requirement according to the shape to be reconstructed.

A pilot and ex-vivo study of examination of endometrium tissue by catheter based optical coherence tomography.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to distinguish ex-vivo normal and abnormal endometrium tissue samples histologically by catheter based optical coherence tomography (OCT). METHODS: A total of 72 ex-vivo endometrium specimens were obtained from June 2018 to March 2021 and were imaged fresh after hysterectomy. The scanned region of endometrium was excised for histological examination and endometrium OCT images were precisely compared to corresponding histological images. Meanwhile endometrium OCT images were analyzed quantitatively with intensity of backscattered light in region of interest (ROI) and maximum penetration depth of the OCT signal. Blinded qualitative analysis on endometrium OCT images was performed by 2 assessors to determine accuracy rate and inter-rating reliability on the histopathological diagnosis. RESULTS: OCT images were performed successfully in 72 endometrium specimens. Five endometrium specimens developed OCT interpretation criteria and the rest 67 endometrium specimens validated qualitatively and analyzed quantitatively. We defined an OCT criteria to distinguish normal endometrium and five different abnormal endometrium phases including proliferative endometrium, secretory phase endometrium, atrophic endometrium, endometrial hyperplasia with atypia and endometrial carcinoma based on OCT imaging features. The overall diagnosis accuracy achieved by the two assessors was 72.4% based on the OCT criteria. The inter-rater reliability between assessors on overall OCT images was substantial (Kendall τb of 0.720, p < 0.05). The changes in ROI minimum intensity, ROI maximum intensity, ROI average intensity and OCT signal maximum penetration depth of five different abnormal endometrium phases were significantly different (all p < 0.001). These parameters of endometrium carcinomas were significantly different from the other four endometrium phases (all p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: OCT has the advantage of noninvasive and rapid diagnosis, which can contribute to the diagnosis of endometrial cancer and will be an indispensable complement to traditional biopsy. Future studies in vivo with larger samples are needed to confirm this conclusion.

Implementation and Optimization of Zero-Knowledge Proof Circuit Based on Hash Function SM3.

With the increasing demand for privacy protection in the blockchain, the universal zero-knowledge proof protocol has been developed and widely used. Because hash function is an important cryptographic primitive in a blockchain, the zero-knowledge proof of hash preimage has a wide range of application scenarios. However, it is hard to implement it due to the transformation of efficiency and execution complexity. Currently, there are only zero-knowledge proof circuits of some widely used hash functions that have been implemented, such as SHA256. SM3 is a Chinese hash function standard published by the Chinese Commercial Cryptography Administration Office for the use of electronic authentication service systems, and hence might be used in several cryptographic applications in China. As the national cryptographic hash function standard, the zero-knowledge proof circuit of SM3 (Chinese Commercial Cryptography) has not been implemented. Therefore, this paper analyzed the SM3 algorithm process, designed a new layered circuit structure, and implemented the SM3 hash preimage zero-knowledge proof circuit with a circuit size reduced by half compared to the automatic generator. Moreover, we proposed several extended practical protocols based on the SM3 zero-knowledge proof circuit, which is widely used in blockchain.

Distributed Random Beacon for Blockchain Based on Share Recovery Threshold Signature.

Random beacons play a crucial role in blockchains. Most random beacons in a blockchain are performed in a distributed approach to secure the generation of random numbers. However, blockchain nodes are in an open environment and are vulnerable to adversary reboot attacks. After such an attack, the number of members involved in a random number generation decreases. The random numbers generated by the system become insecure. To solve this problem while guaranteeing fast recovery of capabilities, we designed a threshold signature scheme based on share recovery. A bivariate polynomial was generated among the participants in the distributed key generation phase. While preserving the threshold signature key share, it can also help participants who lost their shares to recover. The same threshold setting for signing and recovery guarantees the security of the system. The results of our scheme show that we take an acceptable time overhead in distributed key generation and simultaneously enrich the share recovery functionality for the threshold signature-based random number generation scheme.

Introduction and measurement of the effective Verdet constant of spun optical fibers.

We introduce the term effective Verdet constant to describe the effect of spun fiber fabrication parameters on the Faraday polarization rotation sensitivity in response to a longitudinal magnetic field along the fiber. We obtain the expression of the effective Verdet constant of a spun fiber showing that it is always less than that of an ideal fiber free of birefringence by a factor relating to the ratio of spin twist rate to unspun fiber retardation per unit length. The larger the ratio, the closer the effective Verdet constant to that of the ideal fiber is. By measuring the polarization rotation in spun fibers with a highly accurate polarization analysis system made with binary polarization rotators, we experimentally obtain the effective Verdet constants of three different high birefringence spun fibers from three different manufactures at 1310 nm, with values of 1.07 × 10-6 rad/A, 1.05 × 10-6 rad/A, and 1.04 × 10-6 rad/A, respectively, which are 98%, 96%, and 95% of that of the ideal fused silica fiber free of birefringence. Our work is important for understanding the Faraday Effect in the spun optical fibers, as well as for quantifying the Faraday sensitivity of different spun fibers for electrical current and magnetic field sensing applications.

Complete self-calibration compact binary magneto-optic rotator based Mueller matrix polarimetry.

Magneto-optic (MO) based Mueller matrix polarimetry (MMP) has several advantages of compact size, no-mechanical movement and high speed. Inaccuracies of components in the polarization state generator (PSG) optical parameters will influence the measurement accuracy of MMP. In this paper, we present a PSG self-calibration method in the compact MMP based on binary MO polarization rotators. Since PSG can generate enough numbers of non-degenerate polarization states, the optical parameters in PSG and the Mueller matrix of the sample can totally be numerically solved, which realizes a self-calibration in the PSG. Combining the previous self-calibration method in polarization state analyzer (PSA), we realize a complete self-calibration compact MO based MMP. Based on the numerical simulation results, the errors of measured phase retardance and optical axis of the sample decrease two to three orders of magnitude after applying the PSG self-calibration method. In experimental results of a variable retarder as a sample, the Euclidean distance of retardance between the measurement and reference curves comparing PSG self-calibration with no PSG self-calibration can be reduced from 0.035 rad to 0.033 rad and the Euclidean distance of optical axis can be reduced from 3.39° to 1.51°. Compared with the experimental results, the numerical simulation results more accurately verify the performance of the presented PSG self-calibration method without being influenced by other errors because the Mueller matrix of the sample is known and the error source only comes from these components in PSG.

Heterogeneous-frequency-dual-pulse chain and weak FBG array for quasi-distributed acoustic sensing with improved response bandwidth.

By continuously injecting four groups of heterogeneous frequency dual pulses into the sensing fiber with weak fiber Bragg gratings (WFBGs), a quasi-distributed acoustic sensing method based on frequency-division multiplexing is proposed. Each group of pulses generates interference signals with different carrier frequencies after being reflected by the WFBGs. Through the discrete Fourier transform phase demodulation method, each carrier frequency interference signal is demodulated and then the phase is spliced. The feasibility of this method is theoretically analyzed, and a detection with a bandwidth of 2 kHz is realized on a 70 km sensing fiber with a spatial resolution of 10 m.

GPU-based fast processing for a distributed acoustic sensor using an LFM pulse.

We carried out a fast processing investigation based on a graphics processing unit (GPU) for a distributed acoustic sensor using a linear frequency modulation pulse. The moving window cross-correlation calculations are realized on the GPU, which makes use of parallel computing. We analyzed the effect of the thread number in a block on the GPU streaming multiprocessor utilization efficiency and then compared the acceleration under different calculation scales. By maximizing the streaming multiprocessor utilization efficiency and large calculation scale, a maximum acceleration ratio of 86.01 was obtained.

Distributed measurements of external force induced local birefringence in spun highly birefringent optical fibers using polarimetric OFDR.

We develop a local birefringence determination method of measuring the distribution of external force-induced birefringence in spun high-birefringence (HiBi) fiber (spun HiBi fiber) using polarimetric optical frequency domain reflectometry (P-OFDR). By constructing the similarity between the measured Mueller matrices and fiber under test (FUT) matrices using two input states of polarization, the total phase retardance caused by the local birefringence of FUT can be determined from the trace of the measured matrices. We measure the local birefringence of spun HiBi fibers from two different manufacturers and telecom SMF (G652.D) caused by bending, twist, and transverse stress using our presented P-OFDR system. From the experimental results, we find that bending- and twist-induced birefringences of spun HiBi fiber are much lower than those of standard SMF. More remarkably, the coating package influences the transverse stress induced birefringence of spun HiBi fibers significantly. These experimental results verify that our presented method is beneficial to evaluating and improving spun HiBi fibers' quality.

Distributed refractive index sensing based on tapered fibers in optical frequency domain reflectometry.

We present a distributed refractive index (RI) sensor using tapered optical fibers in optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR). RI of the external medium surrounding the tapered optical fibers is measured by the optical frequency shifts of the local back-reflection spectra in OFDR. By a spectrum interpolation, we can increase the resolution of RI measurements without decreasing the sensing spatial resolution. In our experiments, we realize a truly distributed RI sensing with a 4.25 mm spatial resolution and 2.1 cm measurement distance. We calibrate the relationship between the optical frequency shifts of the local back-reflection spectra and RI variation. RI ranges from 1.3574 to 1.3686 and the sensitivity is about 8565 GHz/RIU (68.52 nm/RIU) in the presented sensor. We also measure RI variation in a glycerol solution diffusion to verify the capability of distributed RI sensing by the presented sensor.

Investigation of the interpolation method to improve the distributed strain measurement accuracy in optical frequency domain reflectometry systems.

We use a spectrum interpolation technique to improve the distributed strain measurement accuracy in a Rayleigh-scatter-based optical frequency domain reflectometry sensing system. We demonstrate that strain accuracy is not limited by the "uncertainty principle" that exists in the time-frequency analysis. Different interpolation methods are investigated and used to improve the accuracy of peak position of the cross-correlation and, therefore, improve the accuracy of the strain. Interpolation implemented by padding zeros on one side of the windowed data in the spatial domain, before the inverse fast Fourier transform, is found to have the best accuracy. Using this method, the strain accuracy and resolution are both improved without decreasing the spatial resolution. The strain of 3 µÏµ within the spatial resolution of 1 cm at the position of 21.4 m is distinguished, and the measurement uncertainty is 3.3 µÏµ.

Distributed Optical Fiber Sensors Based on Optical Frequency Domain Reflectometry: A review.

Distributed optical fiber sensors (DOFS) offer unprecedented features, the most unique one of which is the ability of monitoring variations of the physical and chemical parameters with spatial continuity along the fiber. Among all these distributed sensing techniques, optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) has been given tremendous attention because of its high spatial resolution and large dynamic range. In addition, DOFS based on OFDR have been used to sense many parameters. In this review, we will survey the key technologies for improving sensing range, spatial resolution and sensing performance in DOFS based on OFDR. We also introduce the sensing mechanisms and the applications of DOFS based on OFDR including strain, stress, vibration, temperature, 3D shape, flow, refractive index, magnetic field, radiation, gas and so on.

Accurate measurements of circular and residual linear birefringences of spun fibers using binary polarization rotators.

We present a method to accurately measure the birefringence properties of spun fibers using binary polarization rotators. By taking the advantages of binary polarization rotator in polarization analysis, we are able to simultaneously measure both the circular and linear birefringences in a spun fiber with high accuracy. We obtain the circular and the residual linear birefringences of the spun fiber as a function of temperature T to be 3.34 × 10-5-5.11 × 10-8T and 8.1 × 10-6-1.19 × 10-8T, respectively, with the residual linear birefringence about 4 times less than the circular birefringence. We find, for the first time with the best of authors' knowledge, that the circular and the residual linear birefringences in a spun fiber are highly linear with the temperature, with thermal coefficients of -5.11 × 10-8 °C-1 and -1.19 × 10-8°C-1, respectively, and that the relative changes per °C of the circular and residual linear birefringence are almost identical, with values of -0.152% and -0.147% respectively. We believe that the method and data presented in this paper will be beneficial for making high quality spun fibers, as well as high accuracy fiber optic current sensors.

Multi-modality Optical Imaging of Rat Kidney Dysfunction: In Vivo Response to Various Ischemia Times.

We observed in vivo kidney dysfunction with various ischemia times at 30, 75, 90, and 120 min using multi-modality optical imaging: optical coherence tomography (OCT), Doppler OCT (DOCT), and two-photon microscopy (TPM). We imaged the renal tubule lumens and glomerulus at several areas of each kidney before, during, and after ischemia of 5-month-old female Munich-Wistar rats. For animals with 30 and 75 min ischemia times, we observed that all areas were recovered after ischemia, that tubule lumens were re-opened and the blood flow of the glomerulus was re-established. For animals with 90 and 120 min ischemia times, we observed unrecovered areas, and that tubule lumens remained close after ischemia. TPM imaging verified the results of OCT and provided higher resolution images than OCT to visualize renal tubule lumens and glomerulus blood flow at the cellular level.

Bifurcation detection in intravascular optical coherence tomography using vision transformer based deep learning.

Objective. Bifurcation detection in intravascular optical coherence tomography (IVOCT) images plays a significant role in guiding optimal revascularization strategies for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We propose a bifurcation detection method using vision transformer (ViT) based deep learning in IVOCT.Approach. Instead of relying on lumen segmentation, the proposed method identifies the bifurcation image using a ViT-based classification model and then estimate bifurcation ostium points by a ViT-based landmark detection model.Main results. By processing 8640 clinical images, the Accuracy and F1-score of bifurcation identification by the proposed ViT-based model are 2.54% and 16.08% higher than that of traditional non-deep learning methods, are similar to the best performance of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) based methods, respectively. The ostium distance error of the ViT-based model is 0.305 mm, which is reduced 68.5% compared with the traditional non-deep learning method and reduced 24.81% compared with the best performance of CNNs based methods. The results also show that the proposed ViT-based method achieves the highest success detection rate are 11.3% and 29.2% higher than the non-deep learning method, and 4.6% and 2.5% higher than the best performance of CNNs based methods when the distance section is 0.1 and 0.2 mm, respectively.Significance. The proposed ViT-based method enhances the performance of bifurcation detection of IVOCT images, which maintains a high correlation and consistency between the automatic detection results and the expert manual results. It is of great significance in guiding the selection of PCI treatment strategies.

Compensation of laser frequency tuning nonlinearity of a long range OFDR using deskew filter.

We present a simple and effective method to compensate the optical frequency tuning nonlinearity of a tunable laser source (TLS) in a long range optical frequency-domain reflectometry (OFDR) by using the deskew filter, where a frequency tuning nonlinear phase obtained from an auxiliary interferometer is used to compensate the nonlinearity effect on the beating signals generated from a main OFDR interferometer. The method can be applied to the entire spatial domain of the OFDR signals at once with a high computational efficiency. With our proposed method we experimentally demonstrated a factor of 93 times improvement in spatial resolution by comparing the results of an OFDR system with and without nonlinearity compensation. In particular we achieved a measurement range of 80 km and a spatial resolution of 20 cm and 1.6 m at distances of 10 km and 80 km, respectively with a short signal processing time of less than 1 s for 5 × 10(6) data points. The improved performance of the OFDR with a high spatial resolution, a long measurement range and a short process time will lead to practical applications in the real-time monitoring, test and measurement of fiber optical communication networks and sensing systems.

Wavelength-division-multiplexing method of polarized low-coherence interferometry for fiber Fabry-Perot interferometric sensors.

We propose a new wavelength-division-multiplexing method for extrinsic fiber Fabry-Perot interferometric (EFPI) sensing in a polarized low-coherence interferometer configuration. In the proposed method, multiple LED sources are used with different center wavelengths, and each LED is used by a specific sensing channel, and therefore the spatial frequency of the low-coherence interferogram of each channel can be separated. A bandpass filter is used to extract the low-coherence interferogram of each EFPI channel, and thus the cavity length of each EFPI channel can be identified through demultiplexing. We successfully demonstrate the simultaneous demodulation of EFPI sensors with same nominal cavity length while maintaining high measurement precision.

Distributed optical fiber biosensor based on optical frequency domain reflectometry.

In situ acquisition of spatial distribution of biochemical substances is important in cell analysis, cancer detection and other fields. Optical fiber biosensors can achieve label-free, fast and accurate measurements. However, current optical fiber biosensors only acquire single-point of biochemical substance content. In this paper, we present a distributed optical fiber biosensor based on tapered fiber in optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) for the first time. To enhance evanescent field at a relative long sensing range, we fabricate a tapered fiber with a taper waist diameter of 6 µm and a total stretching length of 140 mm. Then the human IgG layer is coated on the entire tapered region by polydopamine (PDA) -assisted immobilization as the sensing element to achieve to sense anti-human IgG. We measure shifts of the local Rayleigh backscattering spectra (RBS) caused by the refractive index (RI) change of an external medium surrounding a tapered fiber after immunoaffinity interactions by using OFDR. The measurable concentration of anti-human IgG and RBS shift has an excellent linearity in a range from 0 ng/ml to 14 ng/ml with an effective sensing range of 50 mm. The concentration measurement limit of the proposed distributed biosensor is 2 ng/ml for anti-human IgG. Distributed biosensing based on OFDR can locate a concentration change of anti-human IgG with an ultra-high sensing spatial resolution of 680 µm. The proposed sensor has a potential to realize a micron-level localization of biochemical substances such as cancer cells, which will open a door to transform single-point biosensor to distributed biosensor.