Imaging of tissue blood flow (BF) distributions provides vital
information for the diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of various
vascular diseases. The innovative near-infrared speckle contrast diffuse
correlation tomography (scDCT) technique produces full 3D BF
distributions. Many advanced features are provided over competing
technologies including high sampling density, fast data acquisition,
noninvasiveness, noncontact, affordability, portability, and
translatability across varied subject sizes. The basic principle,
instrumentation, and data analysis algorithms are presented in detail.
The extensive applications are summarized such as imaging of cerebral BF
(CBF) in mice, rat, and piglet animals with skull penetration into deep
brain. Clinical human testing results are described by recovery of BF
distributions on preterm infants (CBF) through incubator wall, and on
sensitive burn tissues and mastectomy skin flaps without direct
device-tissue interactions. Supporting activities outlined include
integrated capability for acquiring surface curvature information, rapid
2D blood flow mapping, and optimizations via tissue-like phantoms and
computer simulations. These applications and activities both highlight
and guide the reader as to the expected abilities and limitations of
scDCT for adapting into their own preclinical/clinical research, use in
constrained environments (i.e., neonatal intensive care unit bedside),
and use on vulnerable subjects and measurement sites.
