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

Evaluation of microvascular disturbances in rheumatic diseases by analysis of skin blood flow oscillations

Laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF), tissue reflectance oximetry (TRO) and pulse oximetry (PO) and cold pressor test (CPT) were used to assess the microcirculation parameters and the activation of regulatory mechanisms. LDF and TRO samples wavelet transform in the frequency bands 0.01-2 Hz was used to evaluate microvascular disturbances in rheumatic diseases and to assess the vascular involvement in the pathological process. The spectral components of LDF and TRO signals associated with endothelial, adrenergic, intrinsic smooth muscle, respiratory and cardiac activities were analyzed. Significant difference between healthy and rheumatology subjects was identified in perfusion parameters. Spectral analysis of the LDF signal revealed significant difference between two group of high (<0.1 Hz) frequency pulsations. Based on the analysed of the perfusion and amplitudes oscillation in the frequency band the decision rule for detection microvascular disturbances were synthesized. The perfusion parameter and amplitude oscillation associated with cardiac activities included in the decision rule. Based on the measured parameters and the result of wavelet transform LDF- and TRO-signals the parameters for detection of complications associated with microvascular disturbances and their possible causes were proposed

Biophotonics methods for functional monitoring of complications of diabetes mellitus

The prevalence of diabetes complications is a significant public health problem with a considerable economic cost. Thus, the timely diagnosis of complications and prevention of their development will contribute to increasing the length and quality of patient life, and reducing the economic costs of their treatment. This article aims to review the current state-of-the-art biophotonics technologies used to identify the complications of diabetes mellitus and assess the quality of their treatment. Additionally, these technologies assess the structural and functional properties of biological tissues, and they include capillaroscopy, laser Doppler flowmetry and hyperspectral imaging, laser speckle contrast imaging, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and imaging, fluorescence spectroscopy and imaging, optical coherence tomography, optoacoustic imaging and confocal microscopy. Recent advances in the field of optical noninvasive diagnosis suggest a wider introduction of biophotonics technologies into clinical practice and, in particular, in diabetes care units

Speckle dynamics under ergodicity breaking

Laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) is a well-known and versatile approach for the non-invasive visualization of flows and microcirculation localized in turbid scattering media, including biological tissues. In most conventional implementations of LSCI the ergodic regime is typically assumed valid. However, most composite turbid scattering media, especially biological tissues, are non-ergodic, containing a mixture of dynamic and static centers of light scattering. In the current study, we examined the speckle contrast in different dynamic conditions with the aim of assessing limitations in the quantitative interpretation of speckle contrast images. Based on a simple phenomenological approach, we introduced a coefficient of speckle dynamics to quantitatively assess the ratio of the dynamic part of a scattering medium to the static one. The introduced coefficient allows one to distinguish real changes in motion from the mere appearance of static components in the field of view. As examples of systems with static/dynamic transitions, thawing and heating of Intralipid samples were studied by the LSCI approach

Analysis of changes in blood flow oscillations under different probe pressure using laser Doppler spectrum decomposition

Presently, in the modern laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) the distribution of blood perfusion and its changes along the Doppler shift frequencies are simply ignored and/or not properly addressed. Utilizing the registered power spectrum of photocurrent, we introduce an LDF signal processing approach suitable for expanding of diagnostic capabilities of the technique. In particular, we demonstrate that it is possible to determine how the oscillations of blood flow (cardiac, breathe, myogenic, etc.) are distributed along the Doppler shift frequency. Wavelet analysis is utilized to extract the oscillations corresponded to the particular frequency sub-bands of blood perfusion. The main purpose of this study is to identify influence of local pressure by fiber optic probe on cardiac oscillations and their distribution along frequency of Doppler shift

Delivery and reveal of localization of upconversion luminescent microparticles and quantum dots in the skin in vivo by fractional laser microablation, multimodal imaging, and optical clearing

Delivery and spatial localization of upconversion luminescent microparticles [Y 2 O 3 ;Yb, Er] (mean size ~1.6 μm) and quantum dots (QDs) (CuInS 2 ZnS nanoparticles coated with polyethylene glycol-based amphiphilic polymer, mean size ~20 nm) inside rat skin was studied in vivo using a multimodal optical imaging approach. The particles were embedded into the skin dermis to the depth from 300 to 500 μm through microchannels performed by fractional laser microablation. Low-frequency ultrasound was applied to enhance penetration of the particles into the skin. Visualization of the particles was revealed using a combination of luminescent spectroscopy, optical coherence tomography, confocal microscopy, and histochemical analysis. Optical clearing was used to enhance the image contrast of the luminescent signal from the particles. It was demonstrated that the penetration depth of particles depends on their size, resulting in a different detection time interval (days) of the luminescent signal from microparticles and QDs inside the rat skin in vivo. We show that luminescent signal from the upconversion microparticles and QDs was detected after the particle delivery into the rat skin in vivo during eighth and fourth days, respectively. We hypothesize that the upconversion microparticles have created a long-time depot localized in the laser-created channels, as the QDs spread over the surrounding tissues

Multiplexed spatially-focused localization of light in adipose biological tissues

Abstract Last decades the effects of localization and focusing of light in turbid randomly inhomogeneous tissue-like scattering medium have been attracting a particular attention. Weak localization of light in disordered and weakly ordered biological tissue, polarization memory effect, correlations in transmission matrices, focusing light by wavefronts shaping have been widely exploited. Here, we represent an experimentally observed and theoretically confirmed new type of spatial localization of light within biological tissues. General description of the observed phenomenon based on Monte Carlo ray tracing model is provided. We find that innate body arrangements of individual adipocytes can act as a cascade of quasi-ordered microscale lenses confining propagation of light within adipose tissues similar to lens lightguides. The observed spatially-resolved longitudinal multi-focusing of light within disordered adipose biological tissues can naturally lead greater spatial control and enhance light-tissue interactions

Influence of probe pressure on diffuse reflectance spectra of human skin measured in vivo

Abstract Mechanical pressure superficially applied on the human skin surface by a fiber-optic probe influences the spatial distribution of blood within the cutaneous tissues. Upon gradual load of weight on the probe, a stepwise increase in the skin reflectance spectra is observed. The decrease in the load follows the similar inverse staircase-like tendency. The observed stepwise reflectance spectra changes are due to, respectively, sequential extrusion of blood from the topical cutaneous vascular beds and their filling afterward. The obtained results are confirmed by Monte Carlo modeling. This implies that pressure-induced influence during the human skin diffuse reflectance spectra measurements in vivo should be taken into consideration, in particular, in the rapidly developing area of wearable gadgets for real-time monitoring of various human body parameters

Diagnosis of skin vascular complications revealed by time-frequency analysis and laser doppler spectrum decomposition

Abstract Nowadays, photonics-based techniques are used extensively in various applications, including functional clinical diagnosis, progress monitoring in treatment, and provision of metrological control. In fact, in the frame of practical implementation of optical methods, such as laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF), the qualitative interpretation and quantitative assessment of the detected signal remains vital and urgently required. In the conventional LDF approach, the key measured parameters, index of microcirculation and perfusion rate, are proportional to an averaged concentration of red blood cells (RBC) and their average velocity within a diagnostic volume. These quantities compose mixed signals from different vascular beds with a range of blood flow velocities and are typically expressed in relative units. In the current paper we introduce a new signal processing approach for the decomposition of LDF power spectra in terms of ranging blood flow distribution by frequency series. The developed approach was validated in standard occlusion tests conducted on healthy volunteers, and applied to investigate the influence of local pressure rendered by a probe on the surface of the skin. Finally, in limited clinical trials, we demonstrate that the approach can significantly improve the diagnostic accuracy of detection of microvascular changes in the skin of the feet in patients with Diabetes Mellitus type 2, as well as age-specific changes. The results obtained show that the developed approach of LDF signal decomposition provides essential new information about blood flow and blood microcirculation and has great potential in the diagnosis of vascular complications associated with various diseases

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