ABSTRACT
Improvements in real-time Doppler optical coherence tomography (DOCT), acquiring up to 32 frames per second at 250 x 512 pixels per image, are reported using signal processing techniques commonly employed in Doppler ultrasound imaging. The ability to measure a wide range of flow velocities, ranging from less than 20 microm/s to more than 10 cm/s, is demonstrated using an 1.3 microm DOCT system with flow phantoms in steady and pulsatile flow conditions. Based on full implementation of a coherent demodulator, four different modes of flow visualization are demonstrated: color Doppler, velocity variance, Doppler spectrum, and power Doppler. The performance of the former two, which are computationally suitable for real-time imaging, are analyzed in detail under various signal-to-noise and frame-rate conditions. The results serve as a guideline for choosing appropriate imaging parameters for detecting in vivo blood flow.
ABSTRACT
We previously reported a Doppler optical coherence tomography (DOCT) system design [1] for high-speed imaging with wide velocity dynamic range (up to 28.5 dB when acquiring 8 frames per second), operating at 1.3 m with a coherence length of 13.5 m. Using a developmental biology model (Xenopus laevis), here we test the DOCT system's ability to image cardiac dynamics in an embryo in vivo, with a simple hand-held scanner at 4 ~ 16 frames per second. In particular, we show that high fidelity DOCT movies can be obtained by increasing the reference arm scanning rate (~8 kHz). Utilizing a combination of four display modes (B-mode, color-Doppler, velocity variance, and Doppler spectrum), we show that DOCT can detect changes in velocity distribution during heart cycles, measure the velocity gradient in the embryo, and distinguish blood flow Doppler signal from heart wall motions.
