Enhancing vascular visualization in laser speckle contrast imaging of blood flow using multi‐focus image fusion

Laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) is a full-field optical imaging method for monitoring blood flow and vascular morphology with high spatiotemporal resolution. However, due to the limited depth of field of optical system, it is difficult to capture a clear blood flow image with all blood vessels focused, especially for the non-planar biological tissues. In this study, a multi-focus image fusion method based on contourlet transform is introduced to reduce the misfocus effects in LSCI. The experimental results suggest that this method can provide an all-in-focus blood flow image, which is convenient to observe the blood vessels.

[1]  Michael Unser,et al.  Complex wavelets for extended depth‐of‐field: A new method for the fusion of multichannel microscopy images , 2004, Microscopy research and technique.

[2]  Minh N. Do,et al.  Ieee Transactions on Image Processing the Contourlet Transform: an Efficient Directional Multiresolution Image Representation , 2022 .

[3]  Qingming Luo,et al.  Dual-wavelength laser speckle imaging to simultaneously access blood flow, blood volume, and oxygenation using a color CCD camera. , 2013, Optics letters.

[4]  J. Fienup Invariant error metrics for image reconstruction. , 1997, Applied optics.

[5]  D. I. Green,et al.  The multifocus imaging technique in petrology , 2012, Comput. Geosci..

[6]  T. Duong,et al.  Temporal statistical analysis of laser speckle images and its application to retinal blood-flow imaging. , 2008, Optics express.

[7]  Bernard Choi,et al.  Noninvasive blood flow imaging for real‐time feedback during laser therapy of port wine stain birthmarks , 2008, Lasers in surgery and medicine.

[8]  P. Abraham,et al.  Laser Speckle Contrast Imaging of Skin Changes in Arteriovenous Malformation. , 2017, Circulation. Cardiovascular imaging.

[9]  D. D.-Y. Po,et al.  Directional multiscale modeling of images using the contourlet transform , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Image Processing.

[10]  Ofer Levi,et al.  Laser speckle contrast imaging with extended depth of field for in-vivo tissue imaging. , 2013, Biomedical optics express.

[11]  Zhongliang Jing,et al.  Evaluation of focus measures in multi-focus image fusion , 2007, Pattern Recognit. Lett..

[12]  Hayder Radha,et al.  Translation-Invariant Contourlet Transform and Its Application to Image Denoising , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Image Processing.

[13]  Wiendelt Steenbergen,et al.  Laser speckle contrast imaging: theoretical and practical limitations , 2013, Journal of biomedical optics.

[14]  Ralph Weissleder,et al.  Noise suppressed, multifocus image fusion for enhanced intraoperative navigation , 2013, Journal of biophotonics.

[15]  Donald D Duncan,et al.  Can laser speckle flowmetry be made a quantitative tool? , 2008, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision.

[16]  A G Valdecasas,et al.  On the extended depth of focus algorithms for bright field microscopy. , 2001, Micron.

[17]  Li Zhang,et al.  Imaging cerebral blood flow through the intact rat skull with temporal laser speckle imaging. , 2006, Optics letters.

[18]  Shutao Li,et al.  Performance comparison of different multi-resolution transforms for image fusion , 2011, Inf. Fusion.

[19]  Yang Wang,et al.  Improving the sensitivity of velocity measurements in laser speckle contrast imaging using a noise correction method. , 2017, Optics letters.

[20]  A. Y. Neganova,et al.  Laser speckle analysis of retinal vascular dynamics. , 2016, Biomedical optics express.

[21]  Jinling Lu,et al.  Extendable, miniaturized multi-modal optical imaging system: cortical hemodynamic observation in freely moving animals. , 2013, Optics express.

[22]  Qingming Luo,et al.  Correcting the detrimental effects of nonuniform intensity distribution on fiber-transmitting laser speckle imaging of blood flow. , 2012, Optics express.

[23]  W. Powers Cerebral hemodynamics in ischemic cerebrovascular disease , 1991, Annals of neurology.

[24]  Yang Wang,et al.  Improving the estimation of flow speed for laser speckle imaging with single exposure time. , 2017, Optics letters.

[25]  Itay Remer,et al.  Laser speckle spatiotemporal variance analysis for noninvasive widefield measurements of blood pulsation and pulse rate on a camera-phone. , 2015, Journal of biophotonics.

[26]  I. Awad,et al.  Ultrastructural pathological features of cerebrovascular malformations: a preliminary report. , 2000, Neurosurgery.

[27]  O. Scremin Chapter 39 – Cerebral Vascular System , 2012 .

[28]  O. Thompson,et al.  Tissue perfusion measurements: multiple-exposure laser speckle analysis generates laser Doppler-like spectra. , 2010, Journal of biomedical optics.

[29]  Bernard Choi,et al.  Automated computation of functional vascular density using laser speckle imaging in a rodent window chamber model. , 2011, Microvascular research.

[30]  Qingming Luo,et al.  Acute hyperglycemia compromises cerebral blood flow following cortical spreading depression in rats monitored by laser speckle imaging. , 2008, Journal of biomedical optics.

[31]  D. Boas,et al.  Laser speckle contrast imaging in biomedical optics. , 2010, Journal of biomedical optics.

[32]  Qingming Luo,et al.  Lateral laser speckle contrast analysis combined with line beam scanning illumination to improve the sampling depth of blood flow imaging. , 2012, Optics letters.

[33]  Ofer Levi,et al.  Reducing misfocus-related motion artefacts in laser speckle contrast imaging. , 2015, Biomedical optics express.

[34]  Surya C. Gnyawali,et al.  Retooling Laser Speckle Contrast Analysis Algorithm to Enhance Non-Invasive High Resolution Laser Speckle Functional Imaging of Cutaneous Microcirculation , 2017, Scientific Reports.

[35]  Ton van Leeuwen,et al.  Review of laser speckle contrast techniques for visualizing tissue perfusion , 2008, Lasers in Medical Science.

[36]  Shutao Li,et al.  14 – Region-based multi-focus image fusion , 2008 .