Dynamic optical coherence tomography algorithm for label-free assessment of swiftness and occupancy of intratissue moving scatterers

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new dynamic optical coherence tomography (DOCT) algorithm that directly interprets tissue motility by measuring scatterer ratio and speed, improving upon existing methods through simulations and experimental validation.

Contribution

A novel DOCT algorithm that provides direct interpretation of tissue dynamics by quantifying scatterer ratio and speed, addressing limitations of previous methods.

Findings

Numerical simulations compare properties of new and conventional DOCT methods.

Experimental validation confirms feasibility of the new DOCT algorithm.

The new method offers more interpretable measures of tissue motility.

Abstract

Dynamic optical coherence tomography (DOCT) statistically analyzes fluctuations in time-sequential OCT signals, enabling label-free and three-dimensional visualization of intratissue and intracellular activities. Current DOCT methods, such as logarithmic intensity variance (LIV) and OCT correlation decay speed (OCDS) have several limitations.Namely, the DOCT values and intratissue motions are not directly related, and hence DOCT values are not interpretable in the context of the tissue motility. We introduce a new DOCT algorithm that provides more direct interpretation of DOCT in the contexts of dynamic scatterer ratio and scatterer speed in the tissue.The detailed properties of the new and conventional DOCT methods are investigated by numerical simulations, and the experimental validation with in vitro and ex vivo samples demonstrates the feasibility of the new method.