In vivo optical flow imaging

A method comprising:

• detecting, by a detector of an optical coherence tomography (OCT) system, a spectral interference signal associated with a flowing sample to obtain digital M-B scans of an OCT spectrum in a frequency domain, wherein individual M-B scans include multiple B-scans at a same scan location;
• creating overlapping filters covering the OCT spectrum;
• filtering, after the detecting, the OCT spectrum with the overlapping filters to split the digital M-B scans of OCT spectrum into a plurality of spectral bands;
• creating respective flow images for individual spectral bands of the plurality of spectral bands, wherein the flow images include flow values determined from the multiple B-scans of the respective digital M-B scans, and wherein the flow images for the individual spectral bands include multiple flow images for each individual spectral band;
• and
• combining the flow images for the plurality of spectral bands, thereby creating a composite flow image, wherein combining the flow images includes:
• averaging the multiple flow images within the individual spectral bands to create an average flow image for the respective individual spectral band;
• and
• averaging the averaged flow images from the plurality of spectral bands, thereby creating the composite flow image.

A system for imaging, comprising:

• an optical coherence tomography (OCT) apparatus;
• and
• one or more processors coupled to the OCT apparatus to cause the OCT apparatus to:
• detect a spectral interference signal associated with a flowing sample to obtain digital M-B scans from the flowing sample in a frequency domain, wherein individual digital M-B scans include multiple B-scans at a same scan location;
• split the digital M-B scans into a plurality of spectral bands using respective filters;
• create respective flow images for individual spectral bands of the plurality of spectral bands, wherein the flow images include flow values determined from the multiple B-scans of the respective digital M-B scans, and wherein the flow images for the individual spectral bands include multiple flow images for each individual spectral band;
• and
• create a composite flow image from the flow images for the individual spectral bands, wherein to create the composite flow image includes to:
• average the flow images within the individual spectral bands to create an average flow image for the respective individual spectral bands;
• and
• average the averaged flow images from the plurality of spectral bands, thereby creating a composite flow image.