Noise analysis in laser speckle contrast imaging

Laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) is becoming an established method for full-field imaging of blood flow dynamics in animal models. A reliable quantitative model with comprehensive noise analysis is necessary to fully utilize this technique in biomedical applications and clinical trials. In this study, we investigated several major noise sources in LSCI: periodic physiology noise, shot noise and statistical noise. (1) We observed periodic physiology noise in our experiments and found that it is mainly caused by motions induced by heart beats and/or ventilation. (2) We found that shot noise caused an offset of speckle contrast (SC) values, and this offset is directly related to the incident light intensity. (3) A mathematical model of statistical noise was also developed. The model indicated that statistical noise in speckle contrast imaging is related to the SC values and the total number of pixels used in the SC calculation. Our experimental results are consistent with theoretical predications, as well as with other published works.