High-resolution functional photoacoustic monitoring of vascular dynamics in human fingers

Abstract

Functional imaging of microvascular dynamics in extremities delivers intuitive information for early detection, diagnosis, and prognosis of vascular diseases. High-resolution and high-speed photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) visualizes and measures multiparametric information of microvessel networks in vivo such as morphology, flow, oxygen saturation, and metabolic rate. Here, we demonstrate high-resolution photoacoustic monitoring of vascular dynamics in human fingers. We photoacoustically monitored the position displacement of blood vessels associated with arterial pulsation in human fingers. Then, during and after arterial occlusion, we photoacoustically quantified oxygen consumption and blood perfusion in the fingertips. The results demonstrate that high-resolution functional PAM could be a vital tool in peripheral vascular examination for measuring heart rate, oxygen consumption, and/or blood perfusion.