Systems and methods for improved interferometric imaging are presented. One embodiment is a partial field frequency-domain interferometric imaging system in which a light beam is scanned in two directions across a sample and the light scattered from the object is collected using a spatially resolved detector. The light beam could illuminate a spot, a line or a two-dimensional area on the sample. Additional embodiments with applicability to partial field as well as other types of interferometric systems are also presented.

Improved optical coherence tomography systems and methods to measure thickness of the retina are presented. The systems may be compact, handheld, provide in-home monitoring, allow the patient to measure himself or herself, and be robust enough to be dropped while still measuring the retina reliably.

Interferometer displacement measurement system and method are disclosed, wherein, a measurement light is processed by a first polarization splitting prism, a first wave plate, a first splitting prism, an optical waveguide component and a reflector, and then is returned to a first photoeletric detector and a second photoeletric detector. The reference light is processed by a second polarization splitting prism, a second wave plate, a second splitting prism and a reflecting mirror, and then is returned to the first photoeletric detector and the second photoeletric detector. The first photoeletric detector forms a measurement signal according to the processed measurement light and the processed reference light, and the second photoeletric detector forms a reference signal according to the processed measurement light and the processed reference light. Displacement information of the object to be detected is determined according to the measurement signal and the reference signal.