Monitoring tumor progression by mapping skin microcirculation with laser Doppler flowmetry.

Abstract

Laser Doppler flow meter is a safe, useful, and noninvasive tool to monitor microvascular blood flow. It measures the changes in flow either over time or differences in flow over an area of skin or other exposed tissue. The primary function of LDF is to produce blood perfusion output signal that is proportional to the red blood cell perfusion (or flux). A simple analog-based laser Doppler flow meter is used to record the biosignals arising from the microvascular network of a surface lesion in the face of a human being. An innovative technique is developed to overcome one of the major technical limitations that involved removing the continuous artifacts or noise generated by the movement of the cable, the probe as well as the operator or the patient. A color heat map in MATLAB is created to facilitate its easy analysis, interpretation, and understanding of the blood flow changes over a period of time across a cross-sectional area in an image format processed after acquiring the biosignals (flux) using LDF by the clinicians or by the technician who is performing the vascular assessment of the lesion.