In vivo infrared tomographic imaging of laser-heated blood vessels

We demonstrate a method for infrared tomographic imaging of the initial three-dimensional (3-D) temperature increase of in vivo blood vessels following pulsed laser exposure. Using a time-sequence of infrared images recorded by a fast focal plane array camera as input data, a reconstruction algorithm is used to compute the initial 3-D temperature increases in the chick chorioallantoic membrane and port wine stain in human skin. The noncontact tomographic imaging method is relevant to various laser therapies that rely on a photothermal mechanism for selective modification of tissue and may find diagnostic application to determine optimal laser dosimetry, position, and size of targeted subsurface chromophores.