Flowmotion imaging analysis of spatiotemporal variations in skin microcirculatory perfusion

• Background: Flowmotion is the rhythmical variations in measured skin blood flow that arise due to global and local regulation of the vessels and can be studied using frequency analysis of time-resolved blood flow signals. It has the potential to reveal clinically useful information about microvascular diseases, but the spatial heteroge-neous nature of the microvasculature makes interpretation difficult. However, recent technological advances in multi-exposure laser speckle contrast imaging (MELSCI) enable new possibilities for simultaneously studying spatial and temporal variations in flowmotion.Aim: To develop a method for flowmotion analysis of MELSCI perfusion images. Furthermore, to investigate the spatial and temporal variations in flowmotion in forearm baseline skin perfusion.Method: In four healthy subjects, forearm skin perfusion was imaged at 15.6 fps for 10 min in baseline. The time -trace signal in each pixel was analyzed using the wavelet transform and summarized in five physiologically relevant frequency intervals, resulting in images of flowmotion. Furthermore, a method for reducing the effect of motion artifacts in the flowmotion analysis was developed.Results: The flowmotion images displayed patterns of high spatial heterogeneity that differed between the fre-quency intervals. The spatial variations in flowmotion, quantified as the coefficient of variation, was between 11 % and 31 % in four subjects. Furthermore, significant temporal variations in flowmotion were also observed, indicating the importance of a spatiotemporal analysis.Conclusion: The new imaging technique reveals significant spatial differences in flowmotion that cannot be ob-tained with single-point measurements. The results indicate that global statistics of flowmotion, such as the mean value in a large region of interest, is more representative of the microcirculation than data measured only in a single point. Therefore, imaging techniques have potential to increase the clinical usefulness of flowmotion analysis.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Medicinteknik -- Medicinsk laboratorie- och mätteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Medical Engineering -- Medical Laboratory and Measurements Technologies (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Flowmotion; Vasomotion; Microcirculation; Perfusion; MELSCI; LSCI

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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