Dynamics of microvascular blood flow and oxygenation measured simultaneously in human skin

Abstract

Objective: to evaluate the dynamics of skin microvascular blood flow (BF) and tissue oxygenation parameters (OXY) measured simultaneously at the same site using a combined non-invasive BF+OXY+temperature probe.

Methods: skin BF, oxygenated (oxyHb) and deoxygenated (deoxyHb) haemoglobin and mean oxygen saturation (SO2) were measured in 50 healthy volunteers at rest and during perturbation of local blood flow by post-occlusive reactive hyperaemia, sympathetic nervous system-mediated vasoconstriction (deep inspiratory breath-hold) and local skin warming. Signals were analysed in time and frequency domains.

Results: the relationship between BF and SO2 over the range of flows investigated was described by a non-linear equation with an asymptote for SO2 of 84% at BF >50 PU. SO2 was independently associated with BF, skin temperature, BMI and age, which together identified 59% of the variance in SO2 (p<0.0001). Fourier analysis revealed periodic low frequency fluctuations in both BF and SO2, attributable to endothelial (~0.01 Hz), neurogenic (~0.04 Hz) and myogenic (~0.1Hz) flow motion activity. The frequency coherence between the BF and SO2 signals was greatest in the endothelial and neurogenic frequency bands.

Conclusions: the simultaneous evaluation of microvascular blood flow and oxygenation kinetics in healthy skin provides a platform from which to investigate microvascular impairment in the skin and more generally the pathogenesis of microvascular disease

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Identifiers

ORCID for A.J. Chipperfield: orcid.org/0000-0002-3026-9890

ORCID for G.F. Clough: orcid.org/0000-0002-6226-8964

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