In vivo imaging of blood flow in human retinal vessels using color Doppler optical coherence tomography

Quantification of retinal blood flow may lead to a better understanding of the progression and treatment of several ocular disorders, including diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, and glaucoma. Current techniques, such as fluorescein angiography and laser Doppler velocimetry are limited, failing to provide sufficient information to the clinician. Color Doppler optical coherence tomography (CDOCT) is a novel technique using coherent heterodyne detection for simultaneous cross-sectional imaging of tissue microstructure and blood flow. This technique is capable of high spatial (20 μm) and velocity (<500 μm/sec) resolution imaging in highly scattering media. We implemented CDOCT for retinal blood flow mapping in human subjects. No dilation of the pupil was necessary. CDOCT is demonstrated for determining bidirectional flow in sub-100 μm diameter vessels in the retina. Additionally, we calculated Doppler broadening using the variance of depth-resolved spectra to identify regions with large velocity gradients within the Xenopus heart. This technique may be useful in quantifying local tissue perfusion in highly vascular retinal tissue.