title: Analysis of cross-sectional image filters for evaluating nonaveraged optical microangiography images.
abstract: Optical microangiography (OMAG) is a method that enables the noninvasive extraction of blood vessels within biological tissues. OMAG B-frames are prone to noise; therefore, techniques such as B-frame averaging have been applied to reduce these effects. A drawback of this method is that the total acquisition time and amount of data collected are increased; hence, the data are susceptible to motion artifacts and decorrelation. In this paper we propose using an image filter on a nonaveraged OMAG B-frame to reduce its noise. Consequently, B-frames comparable to the averaged OMAG B-frame are obtained, while reducing the total acquisition and processing time. The method is tested with two different systems, a high-resolution spectral domain and a relatively low-resolution swept-source optical coherence tomography system. It is demonstrated that the weighted average filter produces the lowest B-frame error; however, all filters produce comparable results when quantifying the en face projection view image.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Reif
authors.forename: Siavash
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yousefi
authors.forename: Woo June
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Ruikang K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000792:Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D000818:Animals; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology; D004423:Ear / Q000098:blood supply*; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods*