Laser Doppler perfusion imaging with a high-speed CMOS-camera

The technique of Laser Doppler Perfusion Imaging (LDPI) is widely used for determining cerebral blood flow or skin perfusion in the case of burns. The commonly used Laser Doppler Perfusion Imagers are scanning systems which point by point scan the area under investigation and use a single photo detector to capture the photoelectric current to obtain a perfusion map. In that case the imaging time for a perfusion map of 64 × 64 pixels is around 5 minutes. Disadvantages of a long imaging time for in-vivo imaging are the bigger chance of movement artifacts, reduced comfort for the patient and the inability to follow fast changing perfusion conditions. We present a Laser Doppler Perfusion Imager which makes use of a high speed CMOS-camera. By illuminating the area under investigation and simultaneously taking images at high speed with the camera, it is possible to obtain a perfusion map of the area under investigation in a shorter period of time than with the commonly used Laser Doppler Perfusion Imagers.