Local warming of skin induces vasodilation by unknown mechanisms. To test whether nitric oxide (NO) is involved, we examined effects of NO synthase (NOS) inhibition with NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) on vasodilation induced by local warming of skin in six subjects. Two adjacent sites on the forearm were instrumented with intradermal microdialysis probes for delivery of L-NAME and so...

Microvascular assessment would benefit from co-registration of blood flow and hemoglobin oxygenation dynamics during stimulus response tests. We used a fiber-optic probe for simultaneous recording of white light diffuse reflectance (DRS; 475-850 nm) and laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF; 780 nm) spectra at two source-detector distances (0.4 and 1.2 mm). An inverse Monte Carlo algorithm, based on a m...

Utilization of autotransfusion during tumor resection remains controversial due to viability of carcinoma cells remaining in collected blood. The purpose of this study was to evaluate autotransfusion techniques combined with leukocyte depleting filters (LDF) for removal of hepatocarcinoma cells from autotransfusate. An in vitro model was created by contaminating expired human erythrocytes with ...

OBJECTIVES The addition of a perioperative continuous paravertebral nerve block (cPVB) to a single-injection thoracic paravertebral nerve block (tPVB) has demonstrated improved analgesia in breast surgery. However, its use following isolated post-mastectomy reconstruction using a latissimus dorsi flap (LDF) has not previously been examined. METHODS We performed a retrospective review of patie...

The vasomotor axon reflex can be evoked in peripheral epidermal nociceptive C-fibers to induce local vasodilation. This neurogenic flare response is a measure of C-fiber functional integrity and therefore shows impairment in patients with small fiber neuropathy. Laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) and laser Doppler imaging (LDI) are both techniques to analyze vasomotor small fiber function by quantif...

Tissue occlusion and the hyperaemic response upon reperfusion can be used as a tool to assess microvascular function in various vascular diseases. Currently, laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) is applied most often to measure hyperaemic responses. In this study, we have applied tissue viability imaging (TiVi) and LDF to measure the change in red blood cell concentration and perfusion in the skin aft...

Laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) and laser speckle contrast analysis (LASCA) both utilize the spatiotemporal properties of laser speckle patterns to assess microcirculatory blood flow in tissue. Although the techniques analyze the speckle pattern differently, there is a close relationship between them. We present a theoretical overview describing how the LDF power spectrum and the LASCA contrast c...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE In animal models of stroke, functional improvement has been obtained after stem cell transplantation. Successful therapy depends largely on achieving a robust and targeted cell engraftment, with intraarterial (IA) injection being a potentially attractive route of administration. We assessed the suitability of laser Doppler flow (LDF) signal measurements and magnetic reson...

Monitoring alterations in fingertip temperature during ischaemia and the subsequent hyperaemia provides a novel way of studying microvascular reactivity. The relations between parameters characterizing blood perfusion and the thermal response of fingertips were studied using experimental and theoretical approaches. During the experimental protocol, two brachial artery occlusion tests were condu...

BACKGROUND The identification of potential sources of error is a crucial step for any new assessment technique. This is the case for transcutaneous variables, such as flow and arterial gases, which have been applied as functional indicators of various aspects of human health. Regarding gender, a particular subject-related determinant, it is often claimed that women present higher transcutaneous...