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. 2025 May 22;6:1587821. doi: 10.3389/fdmed.2025.1587821

Table 1.

Overview of in vivo oral perfusion techniques.

Imaging techniques Mechanism Signal source Field of view/ROI Penetration Depth Primary outputs
RBC velocity Capillary characters, such as morphology density/diameter Composition/property, such as Oxygenation, Hb concentration
Optical technology
Laser Doppler Flowmetry (LDF) Detecting the Doppler shift of laser light scattered by Hemoglobin (Hb) in moving red blood cells (RBC) Diode laser with light wavelength of 630, 780 or 830 nm Generally, 1 mm diameter Up to 1 mm X Laser Doppler Flowmetry (LDF) Detecting the Doppler shift of laser light scattered by Hemoglobin (Hb) in moving red blood cells (RBC)
Laser Speckle Contrast Imaging (LSCI) Measure speckles that are produced when coherent light is scattered back from Hb of RBCs Diode laser with infrared light Depends on zoom power, in general 10–40 mm Up to 1 mm X Laser Speckle Contrast Imaging (LSCI) Measure speckles that are produced when coherent light is scattered back from Hb of RBCs
Laser Doppler Spectrophotometry Detecting the Doppler shift of laser light scattered by moving RBCs Diode laser with wavelength of 630, 780, or 830 nm and white light (500–800 nm) Generally, 1 mm diameter Up to 1 mm X Laser Doppler Spectrophotometry Detecting the Doppler shift of laser light scattered by moving RBCs
Diffuse Reflectance Spectral Imaging (DRS) Measure reflection of light to analyze tissue composition UV and visible light (180–800 nm) 8 × 8 mm Up to 1 mm Diffuse Reflectance Spectral Imaging (DRS) Measure reflection of light to analyze tissue composition
Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) Measure near-infrared light reflection to measure tissue composition NIR (780–2,500 nm) Generally, a few mm Few cm Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) Measure near-infrared light reflection to measure tissue composition
Sidestream Dark Field (SDF) Measure LED absorption/reflection by Hemoglobin in capillary LED (530 nm) Depends on zoom power, in general 1 mm 500 μm X Sidestream Dark Field (SDF) Measure LED absorption/reflection by Hemoglobin in capillary
Orthogonal Spectral Polarization (OPS) Measure green light absorption by Hemoglobin in capillary Linearly polarized light (530 nm) Depends on zoom power, in general 1 mm Up to 1 mm X Orthogonal Spectral Polarization (OPS) Measure green light absorption by Hemoglobin in capillary
Intravital Videomicroscopy (IVM) Image cells illuminated by light under microscope Visible spectrum plus ultra-violet and near-infrared wavelengths (∼300–1,100 nm) Depends on zoom power, in general 1–3 mm Up to 1 mm X Intravital Videomicroscopy (IVM) Image cells illuminated by light under microscope
Video capillaroscopy (VC) Image capillary illuminated by light under microscope Visible spectrum (400–700 nm) Depends on zoom power, in general 1–3 mm Up to 1mm X Video capillaroscopy (VC) Image capillary illuminated by light under microscope
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and optical coherence angiography (OCTA) Image blood vessels patterns and density by light waves 1,310 nm wavelength and 110 nm bandwidth 5.25 mm × 5.25 mm Up to 2 mmm X Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and optical coherence angiography (OCTA)
Real time optical vascular imaging technique (RTOVI) Image microvascular features by green light Wavelength (550 ± 10 nm) 0.51 × 0.51 mm Up to 1 mm X Real time optical vascular imaging technique (RTOVI)
Narrowband imaging (NBI) Image mucosal surfaces and microvasculature by optical filters with light Wavelenght filters vary 500, 445, and 415 nm with ∼30 nm bandwidth Depends on zoom power, in general up to 100X 170–240 μm X
Imaging techniques
Ultrasound Measure sound frequency changes due to RBC movement Sound of 12–25 MHz Depends on probe size, in general 15–20 mm Up to 15 mm RBC velocity