Assessment of microvascular function using near-infrared spectroscopic 2D imaging of whole hand combined with vascular occlusion test

[object Object]Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is an optical
technique able to assess blood oxygen saturation (StO2)
non-invasively. StO2 of peripheral blood (blood contained
in small vessels in strict contact with tissue cells) reflects
the adequacy of blood flow and O2 supply for tissue
metabolism. Recent studies have tested the clinical utility
of NIRS for studying peripheral microcirculation with the
use of a NIRS probe, exploring a limited portion of hand
skin (generally the thenar eminence), combined with vascular
occlusion testing (VOT). In order to gain information
from much larger tissue areas, the present study evaluates
the possibility of using a NIRS two-dimensional (2D)
camera for whole-hand imaging. Twelve healthy adults
were tested. A NIRS camera was used to acquire the
hemoglobin StO2 2D mapping of the whole-hand inner
surface during VOT. Several parameters were calculated
from the StO2 trend obtained from the NIRS image set,
using two exemplifying regions of interest on the thenar
eminence and the middle finger.