Researchers have had difficulties peering inside capillaries because of the vessels’ microscopic size. A single capillary is a mere 5-10 microns in diameter — so small that red blood cells must flow through in single file.
SC-OCTA works by combining spectroscopy, which looks at the various visible light wavelengths, or color spectra, with conventional optical coherence tomography (OCT), which is similar to ultrasound except uses light waves instead of sound waves. Like a radar, OCT pinpoints the tissue of interest, and then spectroscopy characterizes it.
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SC-OCTA has many advantages over traditional imaging: it does not rely on injected dyes for contrast or harmful radiation. Many types of imaging also only work if the area of interest is moving (for example, ultrasound can only image blood when it is flowing) or completely still. SC-OCTA can take a clear picture of both. This enables it to image stagnant blood or moving organs, such as a beating heart.
“It can measure blood flowing regardless of how fast it goes, so motion is not a problem,” Backman said.
“SC-OCTA’s unique ability to image non-flowing blood could also become a valuable tool for the booming field of organoids, which studies how organs develop and respond to disease,” Winkelmann said. “I am excited to start exploring all the applications.”
The new technology’s only limitation is that it cannot image deeper than 1 millimeter. This might seem shallow compared to ultrasound, which can see several centimeters below the surface. Backman said this can be remedied by putting the tool on the end of an endoscopic probe. By inserting it into the body, the tool can image organs up-close. That is something that his laboratory is working on now.
The title of the paper is “Spectral contrast optical coherence tomography angiography enables single-scan vessel imaging. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health (award numbers R01CA200064, R01CA183101, R01CA173745 and R01CA165309).
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