Particle Image Velocimetty of the Blood Flow in a Micro-channel Using the Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope

We used video-rate Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (CLSM) to observe the motion of blood cells in a micro-channel. Video-rate CLSM allowed us to acquire images at the rate of 30 frames per second. The acquired images were used to perform Particle Image Velocimetry (Ply), thus providing the velocity profile of the blood in a micro-channel. While previous confocal microscopy-assisted PIV required exogenous micro/nano particles as the tracing particles, we employed blood cells as tracing particles for the CLSM in the reflection mode, which uses light back-scattered from the sample. The blood flow at various depths of the micro-channel was observed by adjusting the image plane of the microscope. The velocity profile at different depths of the channel was measured. The confocal micro-PIV technique used in the study was able to measure blood velocity up to a few hundreds mu m/sec, equivalent to the blood velocity in the capillaries of a live animal. It is expected that the technique presented can be applied for in vivo blood flow measurement in the capillaries of live animals.