Velocity-resolved 3D retinal microvessel imaging using single-pass flow imaging spectral domain optical coherence...

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Accurate measurement of retinal blood flow is crucial for diagnosing and monitoring various ocular diseases.
• Existing Doppler Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) methods have limitations in volumetric and velocity-resolved imaging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate in vivo, velocity-resolved, volumetric, and bidirectional blood flow imaging in the human retina.
• To validate a novel single-pass flow imaging spectral domain OCT (SPFI-SDOCT) technique.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a modified Hilbert transform to separate moving and non-moving scatterers within depth.
• Applied a moving spatial frequency window to create depth-resolved images for specific velocity ranges.
• Validated velocity reconstruction against conventional Doppler OCT in flow phantoms.

Main Results:

• Successfully performed in vivo velocity-resolved flow mapping in the healthy human retina.
• Demonstrated accurate measurement of retinal vessel size and peak blood flow velocity.
• Quantified total foveal blood flow using the developed SPFI-SDOCT technique.

Conclusions:

• SPFI-SDOCT enables comprehensive, velocity-resolved, volumetric blood flow imaging of the human retina.
• This technique offers potential for improved diagnosis and management of retinal vascular conditions.
• The validated method provides accurate measurements of key hemodynamic parameters in retinal vasculature.