Abstract

With existing optical imaging techniques three-dimensional (3-D) mapping of microvascular perfusion within tissue beds is severely limited by the efficient scattering and absorption of light by tissue. To overcome these limitations we have developed a method of optical angiography (OAG) that can generate 3-D angiograms within millimeter tissue depths by analyzing the endogenous optical scattering signal from an illuminated sample. The technique effectively separates the moving and static scattering elements within tissue to achieve high resolution images of blood flow, mapped into the 3-D optically sectioned tissue beds, at speeds that allow for perfusion assessment in vivo. Its development has its origin in Fourier domain optical coherence tomography. We used OAG to visualize the cerebral microcirculation, of adult living mice through the intact cranium, measurements which would be difficult, if not impossible, with other optical imaging techniques.