Open Access
6 February 2024 DCS blood flow index underestimates skeletal muscle perfusion in vivo: rationale and early evidence for the NIRS-DCS perfusion index
Miles F. Bartlett, Andrew P. Oneglia, Mark D. Ricard, Ashfaq Siddiqui, Erin K. Englund, Erin M. Buckley, Dennis M. Hueber, Michael D. Nelson
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Significance

Diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) permits non-invasive assessment of skeletal muscle blood flow but may misestimate changes in muscle perfusion.

Aim

We aimed to highlight recent evidence that DCS blood flow index (BFI) misestimates changes in muscle blood flow during physiological perturbation and to introduce a novel approach that adjusts BFI for estimated changes in vasodilation.

Approach

We measured changes in muscle BFI during quadriceps and forearm exercises using DCS, the latter of which were adjusted for estimated changes in microvascular flow area and then compared to Doppler ultrasound in the brachial artery. Then, we compared adjusted BFI- and arterial spin labeling (ASL) MRI measures of gastrocnemius blood flow during reactive hyperemia and plantar flexion exercise.

Results

We observed little-to-no change in quadriceps BFI during maximal-effort exercise. Similarly, forearm BFI was modestly increased during handgrip exercise, but the magnitude was significantly lower than measured by Doppler ultrasound in the brachial artery. However, this difference was ameliorated after adjusting BFI for estimated changes in microvascular flow area. Similar observations were also observed in the gastrocnemius when directly comparing the adjusted BFI values to ASL-MRI.

Conclusions

Adjusting BFI for estimated changes in microvascular flow area may improve DCS estimates of muscle blood flow, but further study is needed to validate these methods moving forward.

CC BY: © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.
Miles F. Bartlett, Andrew P. Oneglia, Mark D. Ricard, Ashfaq Siddiqui, Erin K. Englund, Erin M. Buckley, Dennis M. Hueber, and Michael D. Nelson "DCS blood flow index underestimates skeletal muscle perfusion in vivo: rationale and early evidence for the NIRS-DCS perfusion index," Journal of Biomedical Optics 29(2), 020501 (6 February 2024). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.29.2.020501
Received: 5 September 2023; Accepted: 11 January 2024; Published: 6 February 2024
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KEYWORDS
Muscles

Blood circulation

Red blood cells

Tissues

Arteries

Doppler effect

In vivo imaging

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