Monitoring of drug and stimulation induced cerebral blood flow velocity changes in rat sensory cortex using spectral domain Doppler optical coherence tomography.

Doppler optical coherence tomography (DOCT) provides a novel method to measure blood flow velocity in vessels with diameter at micrometer scale. In this study, a developed spectral domain DOCT system is applied to monitor cerebral blood flow velocity changes in a rat. An animal model with a cranial window is used, and by application of a drug, light, and electric stimulations, changes in blood flow velocity of the pial artery in sensory cortex are measured in real time. The results show significant differences in blood flow velocity before and after drug administration or light and electric stimulations, demonstrating the feasibility of DOCT in cerebral microcirculation study. Given its noninvasive nature, high spatial resolution, high velocity sensitivity, and high imaging speed, DOCT shows great promise in brain research by imaging blood flow changes at micrometer scale vessels, which helps to understand the pathogenesis of cerebral diseases and neurodegenerative diseases.