Doppler optical microangiography improves the quantification of local fluid flow and shear stress within 3-D porous constructs

Abstract

Traditional phase-resolved Doppler optical coherence tomography (DOCT) has been reported to have potential for characterizing local fluid flow within a microporous scaffold. In this work, we apply Doppler optical microangiography (DOMAG), a new imaging technique developed by combining optical microangiography (OMAG) with a phase-resolved method, for improved assessment of local fluid flow and its derived parameters, shear stress, and interconnectivity, within highly scattering porous constructs. Compared with DOCT, we demonstrate a dramatic improvement of DOMAG in quantifying flow-related properties within scaffolds in situ for functional tissue engineering.