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We report on imaging of microcirculation by calculating the speckle variance of optical coherence tomography (OCT) structural images acquired using a Fourier domain mode-locked swept-wavelength laser. The algorithm calculates interframe speckle variance in two-dimensional and three-dimensional OCT data sets and shows little dependence to the Doppler angle ranging from 75 degrees to 90 degrees . We demonstrate in vivo detection of blood flow in vessels as small as 25 microm in diameter in a dorsal skinfold window chamber model with direct comparison with intravital fluorescence confocal microscopy. This technique can visualize vessel-size-dependent vascular shutdown and transient vascular occlusion during Visudyne photodynamic therapy and may provide opportunities for studying therapeutic effects of antivascular treatments without on exogenous contrast agent.
Mariampillai et al. (Thu,) studied this question.