Application of the maximum entropy method to spectral-domain optical coherence tomography for enhancing axial resolution.

For the first time we applied the maximum entropy method (MEM) to spectral domain optical coherence tomography to enhance axial resolution (AR). The MEM estimates the power spectrum by fitting. For an onion with optimization of M = 70, the AR of 18.8 microm by discrete Fourier transform (DFT) was improved three times compared with peak widths. The calculation time by the MEM with M = 70 was 20 times longer than that of DFT. However, further studies are needed for practical applications, because the validity of the MEM depends on the sample structures.