Open AccessMeasurement of red blood cell aggregation using X-ray phase contrast imaging
Author(s) -
Sang Joon Lee,
Hojin Ha,
Kwanghee Nam
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.18.026052
Subject(s) - speckle pattern , optics , contrast (vision) , phase contrast microscopy , phase contrast imaging , speckle imaging , interference (communication) , synchrotron radiation , phase (matter) , synchrotron , red blood cell , materials science , physics , chemistry , computer science , computer network , channel (broadcasting) , biochemistry , quantum mechanics
When a coherent beam illuminates spatially disordered particles, speckle patterns are formed due to interference of the scattered light waves. Speckle patterns from biological tissues using synchrotron phase contrast X-ray imaging can provide functional information about micro-scale morphological structures of the tissues. In this study, we investigated the size and contrast variations of the speckles of aggregated red blood cells (RBCs) suspensions with varying the degree of RBC aggregation. Results show that the degree of RBC aggregation is a governing parameter on the change of speckle characteristics. This blood speckle analysis method can be used as a novel modality for monitoring RBC aggregation.