This invention provides an angled-dual-axis optical coherence scanning microscope comprising a fiber-coupled, high-speed angled-dual-axis confocal scanning head and a vertical scanning unit. The angled-dual-axis confocal scanning head is configured such that an illumination beam and an observation beam intersect optimally at an angle &thgr; within an object and the scanning is achieved by pivoting the illumination and observation beams jointly using a high-speed scanning element. The vertical scanning unit causes the angled-dual-axis confocal scanning head to move towards or away from the object, thereby yielding a vertical cross-section scan of the object, while keeping the optical path lengths of the illumination and observation beams unchanged. By incorporating MEMS scanning mirrors and fiber-optic components, the angled-dual-axis optical coherence scanning microscope of the present invention can be miniaturized to provide a particularly powerful tool for in vivo medical imaging applications.