Hybrid M-mode-like OCT imaging of 3D microvasculature in vivo using reference-free processing of complex-valued B-scans

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new OCT imaging method that visualizes 3D microvasculature in vivo by processing complex-valued B-scans without reference, offering high resolution and robustness against motion artifacts.

Contribution

It presents a novel reference-free OCT technique for 3D microvasculature imaging with improved motion robustness and quantification capabilities.

Findings

Enhanced robustness to tissue motion up to tens of Hz

Microcirculation resolution matching structural images

Ability to quantify vessels via decorrelation rates

Abstract

We propose a novel OCT-based method for visualizing microvasculature in 3D using reference-free processing of individual complex-valued B-scans with highly overlapped A-scans. In the lateral direction of such a B-scan, the amplitude and phase of speckles corresponding to vessel regions exhibit faster variability, and thus can be detected without comparison with other B-scans recorded in the same plane. This method combines elements of several existing OCT angiographic approaches, and exhibits: (i) enhanced robustness with respect to bulk tissue motion with frequencies up to tens of Hz; (ii) resolution of microcirculation images equal to that of structural images and (iii) possibility of quantifying the vessels in terms of their decorrelation rates.