In vivo measurement of erythrocyte velocity and retinal blood flow using adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscopy

Abstract

In vivo measurement of retinal blood flow is obtained by measuring the blood velocity of erythrocytes and lumen diameters of the blood vessels using an adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscope. Erythrocyte velocity is measured by tracking erythrocytes moving across a horizontal scanning line. This approach provides high temporal bandwidth measurements, allowing the fluctuation of blood flow during cardiac cycles to be measured. The technique is most applicable to medium-sized blood vessels.