Diffuse Correlation Spectroscopy: A Review of Recent Advances in Parallelisation and Depth Discrimination Techniques

Abstract

Diffuse correlation spectroscopy is a non-invasive optical modality used to measure cerebral blood flow in real time, and it has important potential applications in clinical monitoring and neuroscience. As such, many research groups have recently been investigating methods to improve the signal-to-noise ratio, imaging depth, and spatial resolution of diffuse correlation spectroscopy. Such methods have included multispeckle, long wavelength, interferometric, depth discrimination, time-of-flight resolution, and acousto-optic detection strategies. In this review, we exhaustively appraise this plethora of recent advances, which can be used to assess limitations and guide innovation for future implementations of diffuse correlation spectroscopy that will harness technological improvements in the years to come.

Keywords

• diffuse correlation spectroscopy
• cerebral blood flow
• laser speckle