Abstract
Novel, non-invasive wearable laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) devices measure real-time blood circulation of the left middle fingertip and the topside of the wrist of the left hand. The LDF signals are simultaneously recorded for fingertip and wrist. The amplitude of blood flow signals and wavelet analysis of the signal are used for the analysis of blood perfusion parameters. The aim of this pilot study is to validate the accuracy of blood circulation measurements recorded by one such non-invasive wearable LDF device for healthy young non-smokers and smokers. This study reveals a higher level of blood perfusion in the non-smoker group compared to the smoker group and vice-versa for the variation of pulse frequency. This result can be useful to assess the sensitivity of the wearable LDF sensor in determining the effect of nicotine for smokers as compared to non-smokers and also the blood microcirculation in smokers with different pathologies.
Highlights
Tobacco smoking is a major single cause of global cancer deaths and has been labelled as the biggest risk factor for premature deaths in industrialised countries such as the UK [1,2,3]
It does not show any noticeable difference between non-smokers and smokers
The present pilot-study demonstrated that the applied wearable device (FET-1) is capable of differentiating cardiovascular parameters between non-smokers and smokers
Summary
Tobacco smoking is a major single cause of global cancer deaths and has been labelled as the biggest risk factor for premature deaths in industrialised countries such as the UK [1,2,3]. Exposure to nicotine and carbon monoxide change the heart and blood vessels in ways that increase the risk of heart and cardiovascular disease [5,6]. Nicotine causes human blood vessels to constrict [6], which limits the amount of blood that flows to human organs. To compensate for this, the heart starts pumping more blood around the body resulting in its enlargement and increased heart rate [7]. This increased rate, an enlarged heart, and stiffer blood vessels make it harder to pump the Biosensors 2020, 10, 201; doi:10.3390/bios10120201 www.mdpi.com/journal/biosensors
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