Doppler optical cardiogram gated 2D color flow imaging at 1000 fps and 4D in vivo visualization of embryonic heart at 45 fps on a swept source OCT system

We report a Doppler optical cardiogram gating technique for increasing the effective frame rate of Doppler optical coherence tomography ( DOCT) when imaging periodic motion as found in the cardiovascular system of embryos. This was accomplished with a Thorlabs swept-source DOCT system that simultaneously acquired and displayed structural and Doppler images at 12 frames per second ( fps). The gating technique allowed for ultra-high speed visualization of the blood flow pattern in the developing hearts of African clawed frog embryos ( Xenopus laevis) at up to 1000 fps. In addition, four-dimensional ( three spatial dimensions + temporal) Doppler imaging at 45 fps was demonstrated using this gating technique, producing detailed visualization of the complex cardiac motion and hemodynamics in a beating heart. (c) 2007 Optical Society of America.