Laser speckle contrast imaging with principal component and entropy analysis: a novel approach for depth-independent blood flow assessment

Current study presents an advanced method for improving the visualization of subsurface blood vessels using laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI), enhanced through principal component analysis (PCA) filtering. By combining LSCI and laser speckle entropy imaging with PCA filtering, the method effectively separates static and dynamic components of the speckle signal, significantly improving the accuracy of blood flow assessments, even in the presence of static scattering layers located above and below the vessel. Experiments conducted on optical phantoms, with the vessel depths ranging from 0.6 to 2 mm, and in vivo studies on a laboratory mouse ear demonstrate substantial improvements in image contrast and resolution. The method's sensitivity to blood flow velocity within the physiologic range (0.98-19.66 mm/s) is significantly enhanced, while its sensitivity to vessel depth is minimized. These results highlight the method's ability to assess blood flow velocity independently of vessel depth, overcoming a major limitation of conventional LSCI techniques. The proposed approach holds great potential for non-invasive biomedical imaging, offering improved diagnostic accuracy and contrast in vascular imaging. These findings may be particularly valuable for advancing the use of LSCI in clinical diagnostics and biomedical research, where high precision in blood flow monitoring is essential.