Noncontact speckle contrast diffuse correlation tomography of blood flow distributions in tissues with arbitrary geometries

Abstract

A noncontact electron multiplying charge-coupled-device (EMCCD)-based speckle contrast diffuse correlation tomography (scDCT) technology has been recently developed in our laboratory, allowing for noninvasive three-dimensional measurement of tissue blood flow distributions. One major remaining constraint in the scDCT is the assumption of a semi-infinite tissue volume with a flat surface, which affects the image reconstruction accuracy for tissues with irregular geometries. An advanced photometric stereo technique (PST) was integrated into the scDCT system to obtain the surface geometry in real time for image reconstruction. Computer simulations demonstrated that a priori knowledge of tissue surface geometry is crucial for precisely reconstructing the anomaly with blood flow contrast. Importantly, the innovative integration design with one single-EMCCD camera for both PST and scDCT data collection obviates the need for offline alignment of sources and detectors on the tissue boundary. The in vivo imaging capability of the updated scDCT is demonstrated by imaging dynamic changes in forearm blood flow distribution during a cuff-occlusion procedure. The feasibility and safety in clinical use are evidenced by intraoperative imaging of mastectomy skin flaps and comparison with fluorescence angiography.

Speckle contrast diffuse correlation tomography of cerebral blood flow in perinatal disease model of neonatal piglets

“…Moreover, scDCT allows customization of the ROI for imaging different tissues/organs with varied scales/dimensions. We have recently demonstrated the feasibility of scDCT for 3D imaging of blood flow distributions in rodent brains [37], and in human wounds [71] and reconstructive skin flaps [35, 36].…”

“…In addition to this preclinical study, our scDCT has been tested for noninvasive imaging of human preterm brains [38] and human mastectomy skin flaps [36, 78, 79] with a penetration depth of ~10 mm. This depth (10 mm) enables penetrating deeply into human infant brains [38].…”

“…Particularly, we have developed a fully noninvasive, noncontact, multiscale scDCT (US Patent #9861319 [34]) that enables high‐density 2D mapping and 3D tomography of tissue blood flow distributions. We have preliminarily tested the scDCT for imaging blood flow distributions in tissue/head‐simulating phantoms, rodent brains, and other human tissues including forearm muscles, burn wounds, and mastectomy skin flaps under various medical conditions [31, 35–37]. Very recently, we conducted a preliminary study to test two preterm infant cases in the NICU by scDCT [38].…”

Measurement of optical reflection and temperature changes after blood occlusion using a wearable device

“…Kamshilin et al 37 employed blood-flow monitoring systems in upper limbs. Yu et al 38 , 39 developed noncontact speckle contrast diffuse correlation tomography. Contactless optical solutions have many advantages such as device safety, imaging function, and high accuracy.…”

Intraoperative Optical and Fluorescence Imaging of Blood Flow Distributions in Mastectomy Skin Flaps for Identifying Ischemic Tissues

“…In speckle contrast diffuse correlation tomography, [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] a galvo mirror remotely delivered coherent point near-infrared light to multiple source positions in a selected region of interest and an electron-multiplying charge-coupled device camera (Cascade 1K; Photometrics, Tucson, Ariz.) measured spatial diffuse speckle contrasts on the tissue boundary [See Video (online), which shows our speckle contrast diffuse correlation tomography instrument and experimental setup for imaging a breast mannequin.] An advanced photometric stereo technique was integrated into the speckle contrast diffuse correlation tomography method to obtain breast surface geometry for better image reconstruction.…”