Characterization of flowing blood optical property under various fibrinogen levels using optical coherence tomography

The feasibility of characterization of human blood fibrinogen levels using optical coherence tomography (OCT) was investigated. Three groups of blood samples were reconstituted of red blood cells: 1) phosphate-buffered saline; 2) plasma with its intrinsic fibrinogen removed and commercial fibrinogen added; and 3) native plasma with various fibrinogen levels (0-12 g/L). OCT signal slope (OCTSS) of blood was extracted from OCT depth-reflectivity profiles. Effects of hematocrit (HCT) and blood flow on OCTSS of the blood under various fibrinogen concentrations were also studied. The results of blood flowing at 5 mm/s showed that OCTSS of all the three groups at HCT of 40% decreases with the increasing fibrinogen concentration up to a certain level, i. e., >8, 6, and 4 g/L for groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. The blood of group 2 at HCTs of 30%, 40%, and 50% had a rapid decrease in OCTSS in the range of fibrinogen concentration of 0-2, 0-6, and 0-10 g/L, respectively. OCTSS value of blood flowing at 2.5 mm/s was lower than that at 5 mm/s at each fibrinogen concentration. In conclusion, OCTSS has a strong correlation with plasma fibrinogen concentration, and has the potential to identify the abnormal level of human blood fibrinogen.