Intraluminal fiber-optic Doppler imaging catheter for structural and functional coherence tomography

We describe a miniature fiber-optic Doppler imaging catheter for integrated functional and structural optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging. The Doppler catheter can map blood flow within a vessel as well as image vessel wall structures. A prototype Doppler catheter has been developed and demon strated for measuring the intraluminal velocity profile in a vessel phantom (conduit). A simple mathematical model is demonstrated to estimate the tot al flow rate. This estimation technique also enables the spatial range of f low measurements to be extended by approximately two times the normal OCT i mage-penetration depth. The Doppler OCT catheter could be a powerful device for cardiovascular imaging. (C) 2001 Optical Society of America.