A new method is presented, called Spectral Contrast Optical Coherence Tomography, which utilizes the visible spectrum of blood instead of doppler or speckle contrast to locate blood vessels. This is seen as a significant improvement for OCT angiography, since sample motion no longer affects vessel contrast, repetitive scanning is not required, and non-flowing blood can be imaged. A visible Optical Coherence Tomography system from 500-700 nm was used and the differential spectral intensity of two short time Fourier Transform Kaiser sampling windows centered at 557 nm and 620 nm provided contrast revealing blood vessel location. This approach allows for single-scan endogenous contrast angiography all the way down to the capillary level. We demonstrate the method by imaging the vasculature of human oral mucosa and the lymphatics and vasculature of freshly sacrificed mouse tissue.
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