Fig. 1.

Procedures to calculate the amplitude combined phase gradient in a Fourier domain OCT system. Depth encoded complex OCT data are obtained from Fourier transform of the acquired fringes (may require addition calibration or dispersion compensation dependent on system used). The phase difference (or phase shift) between A-scans scans at the same location in sequential repeated B-scans is obtained. The axial gradient is calculated from the phase difference. This gradient is then combined with amplitude to calculate the decorrelation and then contrast.