Functional optical imaging of neurovascular activation in the rat cerebral cortex

This study demonstrates Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT) for high-speed, high spatial resolution, depth-resolved, and in vivo imaging of functional neurovascular activation. The FD-OCT system used in this study acquired the cross-sectional tissue structure through the cranial window at somatosensory cortex region. The imaging depth reached to 1.3 mm depth. By calculating the standard deviation of the Doppler frequency spectrum, vascular contrast could be enhanced and the network distribution was also compared with laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI). We elucidates both the intensity of cortex tissue and flow changes during forepaw electrical stimulation. The results show that localized swelling and scattering decreases in the activation region.