In vivo laser Doppler holography of the human retina

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a non-invasive, high-resolution method for imaging blood flow in the human retina using digital holography and laser Doppler techniques, enabling detailed visualization of retinal and choroidal vessels.

Contribution

It introduces a novel in vivo laser Doppler holography approach for retinal blood flow imaging with high spatial and temporal resolution.

Findings

Successful in vivo imaging of retinal blood flow.

High-resolution images covering 2.4 x 2.4 mm area.

13 ms temporal resolution achieved.

Abstract

The eye offers a unique opportunity for non-invasive exploration of cardiovascular diseases. Optical angiography in the retina requires sensitive measurements, which hinders conventional full-field laser Doppler imaging schemes. To overcome this limitation, we used digital holography to perform laser Doppler perfusion imaging of the human retina in vivo with near-infrared light. Wideband measurements of the beat frequency spectrum of optical interferograms recorded with a 39 kHz CMOS camera are analyzed by short-time Fourier transformation. Power Doppler images and movies drawn from the zeroth moment of the power spectrum density reveal blood flows in retinal and choroidal vessels over 512 $\times$ 512 pixels covering 2.4 $\times$ 2.4 mm$^2$ on the retina with a 13 ms temporal resolution.