Optical Doppler tomography for monitoring vascularization during photodynamic therapy of skin cancer lesions

摘要

We investigate vascular changes during Photodynamic therapy (PDT) of skin tumors using optical Doppler tomography (ODT). The effect of vascular shut down on tumor destruction is currently not known, and to optimize treatment it is relevant to investigate this issue further. Optical Doppler tomography is capable of measuring blood flow in biological tissue down to 1-2 mm with sub-mm/s velocity sensitivity and micrometer spatial resolution making it suitable for blood flow measurements in the skin. We demonstrate the ability of detecting blood flow in the human skin using non-interstitial ODT to preserve the non-invasiveness. In general a very limited blood flow activity was observed in normal skin and around skin tumors making monitoring of changes difficult. We suggest solutions to a number of practical issues such as sampling errors and natural fluctuations in flow activity for future work.