Blood flow oscillations as a signature of microvascular abnormalities

Laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) was utilized for blood ow measurements. Wavelet analysis was used to identify spectral characteristics of the LDF signal in patients with rheumatic diseases and diabetes mellitus. Baseline measurements were applied for both pathological groups. Blood flow oscillations analyses were performed by means of the wavelet transform. Higher baseline perfusion was observed in both pathological groups in comparison to controls. Differences in the spectral properties between the groups studied were revealed. The results obtained demonstrated that spectral properties of the LDF signal collected in basal conditions may be the signature of microvasculature functional state

Multimodal optical diagnostics of the microhaemodynamics in upper and lower limbs

The introduction of optical non-invasive diagnostic methods into clinical practice can substantially advance in the detection of early microcirculatory disorders in patients with different diseases. This paper is devoted to the development and application of the optical non-invasive diagnostic approach for the detection and evaluation of the severity of microcirculatory and metabolic disorders in rheumatic diseases and diabetes mellitus. The proposed methods include the joint use of laser Doppler flowmetry, absorption spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy in combination with functional tests. This technique showed the high diagnostic importance for the detection of disturbances in peripheral microhaemodynamics. These methods have been successfully tested as additional diagnostic techniques in the field of rheumatology and endocrinology. The sensitivity and specificity of the proposed diagnostic procedures have been evaluated.<br/

Application of the fluorescence spectroscopy for the analysis of the state of abdominal cavity organs tissues in mini-invasive surgery

At present, minimally invasive interventions become more widespread for treating hepatopancreatoduodenal area pathologies. However, new methods and approaches are necessary for obtaining more diagnostic information in real time. Several methods within the framework of "optical biopsy" concept are considered. The features and areas of application of each method are reviewed to find out which of them can be used in further studies to assess the possibility of intraoperative use in minimally invasive abdominal surgery. Preliminary measurements with fluorescence spectroscopy method have been performed at excitation wavelengths 365 nm and 450 nm. Areas of interest were common bile duct, gallbladder and liver abscess. In our opinion, the obtained results can be a basis for further research and provide a deeper understanding of pathological processes of abdominal cavity organs tissues

Combined use of laser Doppler flowmetry and skin thermometry for functional diagnostics of intradermal finger vessels

We introduce a noninvasive diagnostic approach for functional monitoring of blood microflows in capillaries and thermoregulatory vessels within the skin. The measuring system is based on the combined use of laser Doppler flowmetry and skin contact thermometry. The obtained results suggest that monitoring of blood microcirculation during the occlusion, performed in conjunction with the skin temperature measurements in the thermally stabilized medium, has a great potential for quantitative assessment of angiospatic dysfunctions of the peripheral blood vessels. The indices of blood flow reserve and temperature response were measured and used as the primarily parameters of the functional diagnostics of the peripheral vessels of skin. Utilizing these parameters, a simple phenomenological model has been suggested to identify patients with angiospastic violations in the vascular system

Fibre-optic probe for fluorescence diagnostics with blood influence compensation

To minimise the influence of blood content on the fluorescence measurements in vivo, a fibre optical probe combining fluorescence and diffuse reflectance measurements was developed. For the inverse solution of the blood content recovery, a set of neural networks trained by the Monte Carlo generated learning set was used. An approach of fluorescence measurements triggered by simultaneous real-time measurements of blood content in living tissue during moderate changes in contact pressure of the optic probe is proposed. The method allows one to decrease the necessary pressure on the probe as well as increase the repeatability of the measurements. The developed approach was verified in a series of experiments on volunteers with fluorescence excitation at 365 nm and 450 nm. The proposed technology is of particular interest in the development of new fluorescence-based optical biopsy systems

The development of attenuation compensation models of fluorescence spectroscopy signals

This study examines the effect of blood absorption on the endogenous fluorescence signal intensity of biological tissues. Experimental studies were conducted to identify these effects. To register the fluorescence intensity, the fluorescence spectroscopy method was employed. The intensity of the blood flow was measured by laser Doppler flowmetry. We proposed one possible implementation of the Monte Carlo method for the theoretical analysis of the effect of blood on the fluorescence signals. The simulation is constructed as a four-layer skin optical model based on the known optical parameters of the skin with different levels of blood supply. With the help of the simulation, we demonstrate how the level of blood supply can affect the appearance of the fluorescence spectra. In addition, to describe the properties of biological tissue, which may affect the fluorescence spectra, we turned to the method of diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). Using the spectral data provided by the DRS, the tissue attenuation effect can be extracted and used to correct the fluorescence spectra

Laser doppler spectrum decomposition applied in diagnostics of microcirculatory disturbances

Laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) is widely used to study blood microcirculation in the skin. However, during tradition signal processing based on the integral estimations of the power spectrum of detector photocurrent, the significant part of the information about the skin blood ow is lost. In this study, we propose to analyse the distribution of the blood perfusion over the Doppler shift frequencies, which correlate with the RBC velocity. This approach provides localisation of the blood ow oscillations in different subranges of the Doppler shift. The method applied together with the wavelet analysis has been tested in healthy volunteers and patients with psoriasis on the unaffected surface of the skin. It was revealed, that the significant difference in the amplitude of myogenic oscillations is allocated in the region of the low frequency Doppler shift (1-200 Hz). This frequency region can be associated with the signal from slow components of the skin microcirculation, that can point out on a different state of the lymphatic system of the skin in psoriasis

Novel measure for the calibration of laser Doppler flowmetry devices

The metrological basis for optical non-invasive diagnostic devices is an unresolved issue. A major challenge for laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) is the need to compare the outputs from individual devices and various manufacturers to identify variations useful in clinical diagnostics. The most common methods for instrument calibration are simulants or phantoms composed of colloids of light-scattering particles which simulate the motion of red blood cells based on Brownian motion. However, such systems have limited accuracy or stability and cannot calibrate for the known rhythmic components of perfusion (0.0095-1.6 Hz). To solve this problem, we propose the design of a novel technique based on the simulation of moving particles using an electromechanical transducer, in which a precision piezoelectric actuator is used (e.g., P-602.8SL with maximum movement less than 1 mm). In this system, Doppler shift is generated in the layered structure of different solid materials with different optical light diffusing properties. This comprises a fixed, light transparent upper plane-parallel plate and an oscillating fluoroplastic (PTFE) disk. Preliminary studies on this experimental setup using the LDF-channel of a "LAKK-M" system demonstrated the detection of the linear portion (0-10 Hz with a maximum signal corresponding to Doppler shift of about 20 kHz) of the LDF-signal from the oscillating frequency of the moving layer. The results suggest the possibility of applying this technique for the calibration of LDF devices

Fluorescence lifetime needle optical biopsy discriminates hepatocellular carcinoma

This work presents results of in vivo and in situ measurements of hepatocellular carcinoma by a developed optical biopsy system. Here, we describe the technical details of the implementation of fluorescence lifetime and diffuse reflectance measurements by the system, equipped with an original needle optical probe, compatible with the 17.5G biopsy needle standard. The fluorescence lifetime measurements observed by the setup were verified in fresh solutions of NADH and FAD++, and then applied in a murine model for the characterisation of inoculated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and adjacent liver tissue. The technique, applied in vivo and in situ and supplemented by measurements of blood oxygen saturation, made it possible to reveal statistically significant transformation in the set of measured parameters linked with the cellular pools of NADH and NADPH. In the animal model, we demonstrate that the characteristic changes in registered fluorescent parameters can be used to reliably distinguish the HCC tissue, liver tissue in the control, and the metabolically changed liver tissues of animals with the developed HCC tumour. For further transition to clinical applications, the optical biopsy system was tested during the routing procedure of the PNB in humans with suspected HCC. The comparison of the data from murine and human HCC tissues suggests that the tested animal model is generally representative in the sense of the registered fluorescence lifetime parameters, while statistically significant differences between their absolute values can still be observed