Assessment of optical micro-angiography technique to image 3D blood flow within microcirculatory tissue beds in vivo

Functional microcirculation—intact, RBC‑perfused vessels—is essential for delivering oxygen and nutrients to tissues, and its disruption is a hallmark of many diseases. This work evaluates optical microangiography (OMAG) as a 3D, in vivo imaging tool for quantifying microvascular blood flow in preclinical models where traditional methods lack capillary‑level resolution. OMAG scanning and analysis protocols were optimized across models of cerebral trauma, stroke, meningeal thrombosis, and diabetic peripheral neuropathy to measure perfusion metrics such as blood volume, vessel density, and flow velocity. Results show that OMAG reliably visualizes and quantifies microcirculatory changes, supporting its use as a noninvasive standard for studying vascular pathology.