Laser speckle imaging based on photothermally driven convection

Caitlin Regan; Bernard Choi

doi:10.1117/1.JBO.21.2.026011

26 February 2016 Laser speckle imaging based on photothermally driven convection

Caitlin Regan, Bernard Choi

Author Affiliations +

Funded by: Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), Air Force Office of Scientific Research, U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), Military Medical Photonics Program: AFOSR, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Health, US National Institutes of Health (NIH), Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Health Laser Microbeam Medical Program, National Institutes of Health Laser Microbeam Medical Program, National Science Foundation BEST IGERT Program

Journal of Biomedical Optics, Vol. 21, Issue 2, 026011 (February 2016). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.21.2.026011

Abstract

Laser speckle imaging (LSI) is an interferometric technique that provides information about the relative speed of moving scatterers in a sample. Photothermal LSI overcomes limitations in depth resolution faced by conventional LSI by incorporating an excitation pulse to target absorption by hemoglobin within the vascular network. Here we present results from experiments designed to determine the mechanism by which photothermal LSI decreases speckle contrast. We measured the impact of mechanical properties on speckle contrast, as well as the spatiotemporal temperature dynamics and bulk convective motion occurring during photothermal LSI. Our collective data strongly support the hypothesis that photothermal LSI achieves a transient reduction in speckle contrast due to bulk motion associated with thermally driven convection. The ability of photothermal LSI to image structures below a scattering medium may have important preclinical and clinical applications.

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Caitlin Regan and Bernard Choi "Laser speckle imaging based on photothermally driven convection," Journal of Biomedical Optics 21(2), 026011 (26 February 2016). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.21.2.026011

Published: 26 February 2016

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