Assessment of the flow velocity of blood cells in a microfluidic device using joint spectral and time domain optical coherence tomography

Although Doppler optical coherence tomography techniques have enabled the imaging of blood flow in mid-sized vessels in biological tissues, the generation of velocity maps of capillary networks remains a challenge. To better understand the origin and information content of the Doppler signal from small vessels and limitations of such measurements, we used joint spectral and time domain optical coherence tomography to monitor the flow in a model, semitransparent microchannel device. The results obtained for Intralipid, whole blood, as well as separated red blood cells indicate that the technique is suitable to record velocity profiles in vitro, in a range of microchannel configurations.