Laser Doppler and Laser Speckle Techniques for Blood Flow Measurement

Displayed special advantages on tissue blood perfusion. This paper explores the theoretical background of laser Doppler and speckle techniques. Four applications in measurement of tissue blood perfusion are introduced which are: laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) , laser Doppler perfusion monitor (LDPM) , laser Doppler perfusion imager (LDPI) , laser speckle contrast imaging . In this paper we will describe theses four techniques in brief separately and then we will compare them with each other and with other methods for assessment of microvascular blood perfusion. First, we will explain LDF technique in brief. Then basic principles and components of the LDPM and LDPI instrumentation are discussed. At the end laser speckle contrast imaging technique will be introduced. Some image examples are given to compare the commercialized laser Doppler technique and prototype laser Doppler contrast imager techniques.