Comparison of laser speckle and laser Doppler perfusion imaging: Measurement in human skin and rabbit articular tissue

Laser Doppler perfusion imaging (LDI) is currently used in a variety of clinical applications, however, LDI instruments produce images of low resolution and have long scan times. A new optical perfusion imager using a laser speckle measurement technique and its use for in vivo blood flow measurements are described. Measurements of human skin and surgically exposed rabbit tissue made using this instrument were compared with a commercial laser Doppler perfusion imaging instrument. Results from blood flow measurements showed that the laser speckle imager measured an 11–67% decrease in blood flow under arterial occlusion. Under similar conditions, the laser Doppler imager measured blood flow decreases of 21–63%. In comparison with LDI, it was observed that the higher temporal resolution of the laser speckle imager was more sensitive to measuring the hyperaemic response immediately following occlusion. This in vivo study demonstrated some of the several advantages laser speckle imaging has over conventional LDI, making the new instrument more versatile in a clinical environment.

[1]  M. Moskowitz,et al.  Dynamic Imaging of Cerebral Blood Flow Using Laser Speckle , 2001, Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism.

[2]  G. Nilsson,et al.  Signal processor for laser Doppler tissue flowmeters , 1984, Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing.

[3]  Gert E. Nilsson,et al.  Evaluation of a Laser Doppler Flowmeter for Measurement of Tissue Blood Flow , 1980, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[4]  G. Nilsson,et al.  Laser Doppler perfusion imaging by dynamic light scattering , 1993, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[5]  R. Nossal,et al.  Model for laser Doppler measurements of blood flow in tissue. , 1981, Applied optics.

[6]  R L Bowman,et al.  Continuous measurement of tissue blood flow by laser-Doppler spectroscopy. , 1977, The American journal of physiology.

[7]  A. N. Obeid,et al.  In vitro comparison of different signal processing algorithms used in laser Doppler flowmetry , 2006, Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing.

[8]  G. A. Holloway,et al.  An Instrument to Measure Cutaneous Blood Flow Using the Doppler Shift of Laser Light , 1978, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[9]  J. David Briers,et al.  Laser Doppler and time-varying speckle: a reconciliation , 1996 .

[10]  S. Saha.  Speckle interferometry , 1999, astro-ph/9910506.

[11]  H Fujii,et al.  Evaluation of blood flow by laser speckle image sensing. Part 1. , 1987, Applied optics.

[12]  G. Nilsson,et al.  Higher order moment processing of laser Doppler perfusion signals. , 1997, Journal of biomedical optics.

[13]  W. Ferrell,et al.  Evaluation of laser Doppler imaging to measure blood flow in knee ligaments of adult rabbits , 1996, Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing.

[14]  J D Briers,et al.  Capillary Blood Flow Monitoring Using Laser Speckle Contrast Analysis (LASCA). , 1999, Journal of biomedical optics.

[15]  T. Hotokebuchi,et al.  Assessment of subchondral bone blood flow in the rabbit femoral condyle using the laser speckle method , 1999, Journal of orthopaedic research : official publication of the Orthopaedic Research Society.

[16]  J. Briers,et al.  Flow visualization by means of single-exposure speckle photography , 1981 .

[17]  J. D. Briers,et al.  Quasi real-time digital version of single-exposure speckle photography for full-field monitoring of velocity or flow fields , 1995 .

[18]  T. Hotokebuchi,et al.  Assessment of subchondral bone blood flow in the rabbit femoral condyle using the laser speckle method , 1999, Journal of orthopaedic research : official publication of the Orthopaedic Research Society.

[19]  M. Engelhart,et al.  Evaluation of cutaneous blood flow responses by 133Xenon washout and a laser-Doppler flowmeter. , 1983, The Journal of investigative dermatology.

[20]  Gert E. Nilsson,et al.  A New Instrument for Continuous Measurement of Tissue Blood Flow by Light Beating Spectroscopy , 1980, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[21]  J. Goodman.  Statistical Properties of Laser Speckle Patterns , 1963 .

[22]  M. Doschak,et al.  In vivo comparison of scanning technique and wavelength in laser Doppler perfusion imaging: Measurement in knee ligaments of adult rabbits , 1997, Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing.

[23]  P O Byrne,et al.  A laser Doppler scanner for imaging blood flow in skin. , 1991, Journal of biomedical engineering.

[24]  B Ruth,et al.  Measuring the steady-state value and the dynamics of the skin blood flow using the non-contact laser speckle method. , 1994, Medical engineering & physics.

[25]  Y. Iwamoto,et al.  Evaluation of blood flow within the subchondral bone of the femoral head: Use of the laser speckle method at surgery for osteonecrosis , 1999, Journal of orthopaedic research : official publication of the Orthopaedic Research Society.

[26]  G Dougherty,et al.  Spectral analysis of laser Doppler signals in real time using digital processing. , 1994, Medical engineering & physics.