Three-dimensional (3D) assessment of cutaneous microcirculation in human skin is essential in the identification of disease states in skin or other organs. Few 3D imaging techniques have revealed the skin micro-vasculatures non-invasively and with sufficient imaging depth. Here, we demonstrate volumetric cutaneous microangiography of the human skin in vivo that utilizes a 1.3 µm high-speed swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT). The swept source is based on a MEMS tunable vertical cavity surface emission laser (VCSEL) that is advantageous in terms of long coherence length over 50 mm and 100 nm spectral bandwidth that enables the visualization of microstructures within a few mm from the skin surface. We show that skin microvasculature can be delineated in 3D SS-OCT images using ultrahigh-sensitive optical microangiography (UHS-OMAG) with a correlation mapping mask, providing a contrast enhanced blood perfusion map with capillary flow sensitivity. 3D microangiograms of a healthy human finger are shown with distinct cutaneous vessel architectures from different dermal layers and even within hypodermis. These findings suggest that the OCT microangiography could be a beneficial biomedical assay to assess cutaneous vascular functions in clinic.

中文翻译：

---

通过 VCSEL 扫频源光学相干断层扫描对体内人体皮肤进行体积皮肤微血管造影

人体皮肤中皮肤微循环的三维 (3D) 评估对于识别皮肤或其他器官的疾病状态至关重要。很少有 3D 成像技术能够以非侵入性的方式显示皮肤微血管系统，并具有足够的成像深度。在这里，我们展示了利用 1.3 µm 高速扫描源光学相干断层扫描 (SS-OCT) 的体内人体皮肤体积皮肤微血管造影术。扫频光源基于 MEMS 可调谐垂直腔表面发射激光器 (VCSEL)，该激光器在超过 50 毫米的长相干长度和 100 纳米的光谱带宽方面具有优势，可实现距皮肤表面几毫米内的微观结构的可视化。我们表明，可以使用具有相关映射掩模的超高灵敏度光学微血管造影术 (UHS-OMAG) 在 3D SS-OCT 图像中描绘皮肤微血管系统，提供具有毛细血管流动敏感性的对比度增强的血液灌注图。健康人类手指的 3D 微血管造影显示具有不同真皮层甚至皮下组织内的不同皮肤血管结构。这些发现表明，OCT 微血管造影可能是一种有益的生物医学检测方法，可在临床中评估皮肤血管功能。