Using laser speckle to map blood flow

optics.org reports

Scientists from Canada’s National Research Council Institute for Biodiagnostics in Winnipeg claim to have developed a technique for measuring blood-flow velocity that is significantly cheaper and faster than existing methods.

Laser speckle imaging is used to monitor and map blood flow through the tissue by tracking minute changes in the skin caused by movement of the blood through the vessels underneath.

Having this information is important in determining if a grafted area will heal properly.

Laser speckle is an optical interference effect that’s observed when laser light is incident on a rough surface, such as living tissue. The light and dark "speckles" are caused by constructive and destructive interference of the scattered light. The speckle pattern fluctuates if the illuminated area contains moving particles, like blood cells. Analysing these fluctuations yields information about blood-flow velocity.

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Michael Harrison

Husband, Programmer, Irish dancer, tinkerer, astronomer, layabout (as much as possible)

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