ABSTRACT
Imaging of the microcirculatory system, including blood and lymph vessels, plays an important role in medicine and is clinically necessary, since it can be used for diagnostics and treatment of many pathologies and diseases. In particular, it can be used to gain a better understanding of pathological mechanisms and the development of therapies for some critical diseases including inflammation, angiogenesis of malignant tumors, and metastasis. The lymphatic vascular system plays a key role as a drainage system in the human body and works closely with the blood circulatory system to return excess interstitial fluid to the circulatory system. Most of the existing methods of imaging lymphatic and blood vessels require contrast agents, and their toxicity and side effects may limit the use of these methods. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and laser speckle imaging are the only label-free methods for in vivo imaging of lymphatic vessels. This chapter focuses on current advances in the use of noninvasive optical techniques for quantifying blood and lymph flow in combination with optical clearing. The basic principles of OCT operation and methods based on laser speckle imaging are presented.
