Optical coherence tomography to investigate optical properties of blood during coagulation

This study investigates the optical properties of human blood during the coagulation process under statics using optical coherence tomography (OCT). OCT signal slope (OCTSS) and 1∕e light penetration depth (d(1∕e)) were obtained from the profiles of reflectance versus depth. Results showed that both OCTSS and d(1∕e) were able to sensitively differentiate various stages of blood properties during coagulating. After 1 h clotting, OCTSS decreased by 47.0%, 15.0%, 13.7%, and 8.5% and d(1∕e) increased by 34.7%, 29.4%, 24.3%, and 22.9% for the blood samples at HCT of 25%, 35%, 45%, and 55%, respectively. The slope of d(1∕e) versus time (S(r), ×10(-4) mm∕s), associated with clot formation rate decreased from 6.0 ± 0.3, 3.7 ± 0.5 to 2.3 ± 0.4 with the increasing of HCT from 35%, 45%, to 55%. The clotting time (t(c)) from the d(1∕e) evolution curves was estimated to be 1969 ± 92 s, 375 ± 12 s, 455 ± 11 s, and 865 ± 47 s for the blood of 25%, 35%, 45%, and 55%. This study demonstrates that the parameters (t(c) and S(r)) from the variations in d(1∕e) had better sensitivity and smaller standard deviation. Furthermore, blood hematocrit affecting backscattering properties of blood during coagulation was capable of being discerned by OCT parameters. It is concluded that OCT is a potential technique to quantify and follow the liquid-gel transition of blood during clotting.