Characterising and improving image quality in optical coherence tomography and elastography by means of optical beam shaping and simulations

One path to understanding the genesis and progression of disease, and to early disease detection, lies in the advancement of label-free microscopy techniques, such as optical coherence tomography (OCT) and optical coherence elastography (OCE). To this end, this thesis describes the methods used to alter and improve OCT and OCE image quality via beam shaping; to compare it in realistic and controlled turbid tissue scenarios using novel phantoms; and to analyse it with the aid of simulations. With these tools, we characterise the influence of Bessel beams on contrast in OCT, and demonstrate a substantial resolution improvement in ultrahigh-resolution OCE.