Measurement depth and volume in laser Doppler flowmetry

A new method for estimating the measurement depth and volume in laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) is presented. The method is based on Monte Carlo simulations of light propagation in tissue. The contribution from each individual Doppler shift is calculated and thereby multiple Doppler shifts are handled correctly. Different LDF setups for both probe based (0.0, 0.25, 0.5, and 1.2 mm source–detector separation) and imaging systems (0.5 and 2.0 mm beam diameter) are considered, at the wavelengths 543 nm, 633 nm, and 780 nm. Non-linear speckle pattern effects are accounted for in the imaging system setups. The effects of tissue optical properties, blood concentration, and blood oxygen saturation are evaluated using both homogeneous tissue models and a layered skin model. The results show that the effect on the measurement depth of changing tissue properties is comparable to the effect of changing the system setup, e.g. source–detector separation and wavelength. Skin pigmentation was found to have a negligible effect on the measurement depth. Examples of measurement depths are (values are given for a probe based system with 0.25 mm source–detector separation and an imaging system with a 0.5 mm beam diameter, respectively, both operating at 780 nm): muscle — 0.55/0.79 mm; liver — 0.40/0.53 mm; gray matter — 0.48/0.68 mm; white matter — 0.20/0.20 mm; index finger pulp — 0.41/0.53 mm; forearm skin — 0.53/0.56 mm; heat provoked forearm skin — 0.66/0.67 mm.