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Simultaneous, non-invasive measurements of skin blood flow and oxygenation in healthy humans

Simultaneous, non-invasive measurements of skin blood flow and oxygenation in healthy humans
Simultaneous, non-invasive measurements of skin blood flow and oxygenation in healthy humans
Adequate blood flow within microcirculation and sufficient tissue oxygenation are essential for tissue health. However, the quantitative understanding of dynamics between the microvascular blood flow and oxygenation remains limited. The aim of this study was to explore and interpret simultaneous measurements of skin blood flux (BF) and oxygenation parameters (OXY) recorded from healthy skin.

Measurements were recorded using a recently developed (Moor Instruments Ltd, UK) combined Laser Doppler Flowmetry (LDF) and White Light Spectroscopy (WLS) technique, which offer an easy to perform assessment of skin microcirculation and skin oxygenation. In this thesis, two open studies have been conducted in cohorts of healthy volunteers to evaluate combined LDF-WLS measurements and to study the relationship between skin BF and OXY.

The engineering challenge of this thesis was to apply signal processing methods to analyse BF and OXY parameters and to extract information that reflect the physiological characteristics of the tissue. Signal processing methods such filtering, convolution, Fourier transform and others served as tools to identify different properties of the signals and subsequently describe the biological systems.

The measurements acquired across wide range of values led to mathematical description of the relationship between skin BF and oxygenation and revealed different oscillatory characteristics in BF and OXY signals. The analysis showed resting BF and OXY signals have the highest coherence across low frequency bands. Furthermore, OXY signals are delayed in respect to BF signals. Signal obtained during thermally induced vasodilation showed a shift in signal power to the cardiac frequency band.

In conclusion, simultaneous measurements of skin BF and OXY signals in combination with signal processing techniques offer an extended assessment of microvascular function, which may complement clinical assessment of tissue status. Further work is now required to combine presented in this thesis BF and OXY characteristics with other available analysis into clinically useful assessment.
University of Southampton
Kuliga, Katarzyna Zofia
6679d3c0-c1da-46c4-aae2-cfaf0a417350
Kuliga, Katarzyna Zofia
6679d3c0-c1da-46c4-aae2-cfaf0a417350
Clough, Geraldine
9f19639e-a929-4976-ac35-259f9011c494

Kuliga, Katarzyna Zofia (2016) Simultaneous, non-invasive measurements of skin blood flow and oxygenation in healthy humans. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis, 206pp.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

Adequate blood flow within microcirculation and sufficient tissue oxygenation are essential for tissue health. However, the quantitative understanding of dynamics between the microvascular blood flow and oxygenation remains limited. The aim of this study was to explore and interpret simultaneous measurements of skin blood flux (BF) and oxygenation parameters (OXY) recorded from healthy skin.

Measurements were recorded using a recently developed (Moor Instruments Ltd, UK) combined Laser Doppler Flowmetry (LDF) and White Light Spectroscopy (WLS) technique, which offer an easy to perform assessment of skin microcirculation and skin oxygenation. In this thesis, two open studies have been conducted in cohorts of healthy volunteers to evaluate combined LDF-WLS measurements and to study the relationship between skin BF and OXY.

The engineering challenge of this thesis was to apply signal processing methods to analyse BF and OXY parameters and to extract information that reflect the physiological characteristics of the tissue. Signal processing methods such filtering, convolution, Fourier transform and others served as tools to identify different properties of the signals and subsequently describe the biological systems.

The measurements acquired across wide range of values led to mathematical description of the relationship between skin BF and oxygenation and revealed different oscillatory characteristics in BF and OXY signals. The analysis showed resting BF and OXY signals have the highest coherence across low frequency bands. Furthermore, OXY signals are delayed in respect to BF signals. Signal obtained during thermally induced vasodilation showed a shift in signal power to the cardiac frequency band.

In conclusion, simultaneous measurements of skin BF and OXY signals in combination with signal processing techniques offer an extended assessment of microvascular function, which may complement clinical assessment of tissue status. Further work is now required to combine presented in this thesis BF and OXY characteristics with other available analysis into clinically useful assessment.

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Published date: February 2016

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 416807
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/416807
PURE UUID: 4e78c3d2-bff5-44c8-a135-c03602ed75cf
ORCID for Geraldine Clough: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-6226-8964

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 10 Jan 2018 17:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 02:54

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Contributors

Author: Katarzyna Zofia Kuliga
Thesis advisor: Geraldine Clough ORCID iD

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