Relationship between nonlinear properties of sacral skin blood flow oscillations and vasodilatory function in people at risk for pressure ulcers

Application of Multiscale Sample Entropy in Assessing Effects of Exercise Training on Skin Blood Flow Oscillations in People with Spinal Cord Injury

Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes a disruption of autonomic nervous regulation to the cardiovascular system, leading to various cardiovascular and microvascular diseases. Exercise training is an effective intervention for reducing risk for microvascular diseases in healthy people. However, the effectiveness of exercise training on improving microvascular function in people with SCI is largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to compare blood flow oscillations in people with spinal cord injury and different physical activity levels to determine if such a lifestyle might influence skin blood flow. A total of 37 participants were recruited for this study, including 12 athletes with SCI (ASCI), 9 participants with SCI and a sedentary lifestyle (SSCI), and 16 healthy able-bodied controls (AB). Sacral skin blood flow (SBF) in response to local heating at 42 °C for 50 min was measured using laser Doppler flowmetry. The degree of the regularity of blood flow oscillations (BFOs) was quantified using a multiscale entropy approach. The results showed that BFO was significantly more irregular in ASCI and AB compared to SSCI during the maximal vasodilation period. Our results also demonstrate that the difference in the regularity of BFOs between original SBF signal and phase-randomized surrogate time series was larger in ASCI and AB compared to SSCI. Our findings indicate that SCI causes a loss of complexity of BFOs and exercise training may improve complexity in people with SCI. This study demonstrates that multiscale entropy is a sensitive method for detecting differences between different categories of people with SCI and might be able to detect effects of exercise training related to skin blood flow.

Peripheral arterial elasticity changes derived by volume-oscillometry in reaction to hyperemia as a possible assessment of flow-mediated vasodilatation

The flow-mediated dilation (FMD) test is commonly utilized and is the only technique for the assessment of vascular endothelial cell function. With this test, the augmentation of a brachial artery diameter following reactive hyperemia is measured precisely using ultrasonography by a skilled operator. This is a hospital-only test, and would be more useful if conveniently performed at home. This paper describes a first approach for studying the impact of changes in peripheral arterial elasticity, with prospects towards possible assessment of functional reactivity. A recently developed smartphone-based instrument was used to measure elastic properties of finger and radial arteries, related to stiffness and vasodilatation, as a function of distending pressure derived by photo-plethysmographic volume-oscillometry. Elasticity changes in both arteries before and after a 5-min supra-systolic upper-arm cuff occlusion were successfully obtained in 15 normal volunteers. The index-values of stiffness and vasodilatation showed, respectively, a significant decrease and increase (p < 0.01), demonstrating clearly the expected elasticity changes with hyperemia, which could be consistent with the clinically-stated reaction in an FMD test. The results suggest that this method could easily provide important information of both elasticity and vasodilatation. It appears promising as a convenient assessment method to contribute to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular screening.

The Relationship Between Blood Perfusion in the Lower Extremities and Heart Rate Variability at Different Positions

Previous studies have explored the relationship between the complexity of local blood flow signals and heart rate variability (HRV) under different thermal stimulations. However, the relationship between the complexity of local blood flow signals and HRV in different positions is not clear. In this study, healthy participants were placed in different body positions. The bilateral blood flux and ECG were monitored, and refined composite multiscale entropy (RC MSE) and refined composite multiscale fuzzy entropy (RC MFE) were used to measure the complexity of the local blood flux. The sample entropy was calculated to evaluate the HRV complexity. The change of body position did not affect the time domain or frequency domain of HRV, but did reverse the blood flux laterality of the lower extremities. Furthermore, there was a negative correlation between the complexity of right-side blood flux and sample entropy of HRV when the participant was in the -10 degrees position. These results provide a new perspective of the relationship between skin blood flux signals and cardiac function.

Effect of Different Local Vibration Frequencies on the Multiscale Regularity of Plantar Skin Blood Flow

Local vibration has shown promise in improving skin blood flow (SBF). However, there is no consensus on the selection of the best vibration frequency. An important reason may be that previous studies utilized time- and frequency-domain parameters to characterize vibration-induced SBF responses. These parameters are unable to characterize the structural features of the SBF response to local vibrations, thus contributing to the inconsistent findings seen in vibration research. The objective of this study was to provide evidence that nonlinear dynamics of SBF responses would be an important aspect for assessing the effect of local vibration on SBF. Local vibrations at 100 Hz, 35 Hz, and 0 Hz (sham vibration) with an amplitude of 1 mm were randomly applied to the right first metatarsal head of 12 healthy participants for 10 min. SBF at the same site was measured for 10 min before and after local vibration. The degree of regularity of SBF was quantified using a multiscale sample entropy algorithm. The results showed that 100 Hz vibration significantly increased multiscale regularity of SBF but 35 Hz and 0 Hz (sham vibration) did not. The significant increase of regularity of SBF after 100 Hz vibration was mainly attributed to increased regularity of SBF oscillations within the frequency interval at 0.0095–0.15 Hz. These findings support the use of multiscale regularity to assess effectiveness of local vibration on improving skin blood flow.

Dysregulated Neurovascular Control Underlies Declining Microvascular Functionality in People With Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) at Risk of Liver Fibrosis

Background/Aims

Increasing evidence shows that non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with dysregulation of microvascular perfusion independently of established cardio-metabolic risk factors. We investigated whether hepatic manifestations of NAFLD such as liver fibrosis and liver fat are associated with microvascular hemodynamics through dysregulation of neurovascular control.

Methods

Microvascular dilator (post-occlusive reactive hyperemia) and sympathetically mediated constrictor (deep inspiratory breath-hold) responses were measured at the forearm and finger, respectively, using laser Doppler fluximetry. Non-linear complexity-based analysis was used to assess the information content and variability of the resting blood flux (BF) signals, attributable to oscillatory flow-motion activity, and over multiple sampling frequencies.

Results

Measurements were made in 189 adults (113 men) with NAFLD, with (n = 65) and without (n = 124) type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), age = 50.9 ± 11.7 years (mean ± SD). Microvascular dilator and constrictor capacity were both negatively associated with age (r = −0.178, p = 0.014, and r = −0.201, p = 0.007, respectively) and enhanced liver fibrosis (ELF) score (r = −0.155, p = 0.038 and r = −0.418, p < 0.0001, respectively). There was no association with measures of liver fat, obesity or T2DM. Lempel-Ziv complexity (LZC) and sample entropy (SE) of the BF signal measured at the two skin sites were associated negatively with age (p < 0.01 and p < 0.001) and positively with ELF score (p < 0.05 and p < 0.0001). In individuals with an ELF score ≥7.8 the influence of both neurogenic and respiratory flow-motion activity on LZC was up-rated (p < 0.0001).

Conclusion

Altered microvascular network functionality occurs in adults with NAFLD suggesting a mechanistic role for dysregulated neurovascular control in individuals at risk of severe liver fibrosis.

Linear and nonlinear analysis of dental pulp blood flow oscillations in ageing

AIM

To investigate the effect of ageing on control mechanisms of pulpal microcirculation using wavelet analysis and to calculate linear and nonlinear parameters of blood flow oscillations, in a healthy general population.

METHODOLOGY

Pulpal blood flow (PBF) oscillations were recorded on right maxillary central incisors using laser Doppler Flowmeter (PeriFlux PF 5001, Perimed, Jarfalla, Sweden) on a group of 10 young participants (20-25 years) and a group of 10 older adults (60-70 years). In total, 20 recordings were obtained for at least 20 min (one recording on one tooth per subject). Using wavelet spectral analysis, the amplitude and power were calculated as a linear and Hurst exponent as a nonlinear parameter of PBF oscillations. Differences between the two groups were assessed with the independent Student t-test.

RESULTS

Mean PBF levels were significantly lower (P = 0.024) in older adults than in young participants. Relative amplitudes and powers corresponding to the myogenic (P = 0.046, P < 0.001, respectively) and neurogenic activity (P = 0.04, P = 0.01, respectively) were significantly higher, whereas values corresponding to the endothelial function (P = 0.04, P = 0.01, respectively) were significantly lower in older adults than in young participants. Hurst exponents of the total spectrum, myogenic and endothelial component (P < 0.001, P = 0.02, P < 0.001, respectively) of PBF oscillations were significantly lower in older adults in comparison to young participants.

CONCLUSIONS

At the level of pulpal microcirculation, ageing was associated with altered blood flow levels, the contribution of different control mechanisms to blood flow oscillations as well as the interaction of vascular smooth muscle and endothelium. Described changes of pulpal haemodynamics contribute to a better understanding of physiological behaviour and decreased adaptability of aged dental pulp to pathological stimuli.

Impact of local thermal stimulation on the correlation between oxygen saturation and speed-resolved blood perfusion

The physiologically important relationship between oxygen saturation and blood flow is not entirely understood, particularly with regard to the multiple velocity components of flow and temperature. While our previous studies used classic laser Doppler flowmetry combined with an enhanced perfusion probe to assess local blood flow following thermal stimulation, oxygen saturation signals were not assessed. Thus, the current study used multiscale entropy (MSE) and multiscale fuzzy entropy (MFE) to measure the complexity of oxygen saturation signals following thermal stimulation in healthy subjects. The results indicate that thermal stimulation increases oxygen saturation and affects the measured signal complexity in a temperature-dependent fashion. Furthermore, stimulus temperature not only affects the correlation between speed-resolved blood perfusion and oxygen saturation, but also the correlation between the complexity area indices (CAI) of the two signals. These results reflect the complexity of local regulation and adaptation processes in response to stimuli at different temperatures.

Assessment of cerebral hemodynamics during neurosurgical procedures using laser speckle image analysis

Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) is a severe medical condition associated with a significant cause of mortality throughout the world. Cisterna magna injection model is accepted widely to mimic clinical aSAH and is performed on small animal models to study aSAH during neurosurgery. Coherent light scattered from the surface of the rat brain is used to infer information about the variations in blood flow during this condition. We obtained speckle images from the exposed cortex during the entire experiment using an external tissue imaging system. Contrast and fractal analyses are carried out for the recorded speckle pattern time series. Correlation analysis based on Hurst exponent for these images is found to be a more sensitive tool in studying aSAH as compared to routinely used laser speckle contrast analysis for assessing the changes in blood flow velocity. Additionally, our studies provide improved blood flow detection sensitivity with image Hurst exponent in combination with computed fractal dimension, during an event of aSAH.

Exploring the relationship between the speed-resolved perfusion of blood flux and HRV following different thermal stimulations using MSE and MFE analyses

Our previous study employed the classic laser Doppler flux (LDF) to explore the complexity of local blood flow signals and their relationship with heart rate variability (HRV). However, microcirculation blood flow is composed of different velocity components. To investigate the complexity of local speed-resolved perfusion and HRV following stimulation with different temperatures in healthy subjects, multiscale entropy (MSE) and multiscale fuzzy entropy (MFE) were used to measure the complexity of local speed-resolved perfusion signals. MSE was also used to evaluate the complexity of HRV. The results indicated that thermal stimulation increased all components of local speed-resolved perfusion and that stimulation with different temperatures resulted in different changes in the complexity area index. However, the same stimulation had no effect on the MSE of HRV. Further research showed that 44°C thermal stimulation resulted in a weak correlation between the composite speed-resolved perfusion and the HRV complexity. The current study provides a new approach for studying the relationship between speed-resolved perfusion signals and cardiac function.

Using Multiscale Entropy to Assess the Efficacy of Local Cooling on Reactive Hyperemia in People with a Spinal Cord Injury

Pressure ulcers are one of the most common complications of a spinal cord injury (SCI). Prolonged unrelieved pressure is thought to be the primary causative factor resulting in tissue ischemia and eventually pressure ulcers. Previous studies suggested that local cooling reduces skin ischemia of the compressed soft tissues based on smaller hyperemic responses. However, the effect of local cooling on nonlinear properties of skin blood flow (SBF) during hyperemia is unknown. In this study, 10 wheelchair users with SCI and 10 able-bodied (AB) controls underwent three experimental protocols, each of which included a 10-min period as baseline, a 20-min intervention period, and a 20-min period for recovering SBF. SBF was measured using a laser Doppler flowmetry. During the intervention period, a pressure of 60 mmHg was applied to the sacral skin, while three skin temperature settings were tested, including no temperature change, a decrease by 10 °C, and an increase by 10 °C, respectively. A multiscale entropy (MSE) method was employed to quantify the degree of regularity of blood flow oscillations (BFO) associated with the SBF control mechanisms during baseline and reactive hyperemia. The results showed that under pressure with cooling, skin BFO both in people with SCI and AB controls were more regular at multiple time scales during hyperemia compared to baseline, whereas under pressure with no temperature change and particularly pressure with heating, BFO were more irregular during hyperemia compared to baseline. Moreover, the results of surrogate tests indicated that changes in the degree of regularity of BFO from baseline to hyperemia were only partially attributed to changes in relative amplitudes of endothelial, neurogenic, and myogenic components of BFO. These findings support the use of MSE to assess the efficacy of local cooling on reactive hyperemia and assess the degree of skin ischemia in people with SCI.

Exploring the Relationship between Blood Flux Signals and HRV following Different Thermal Stimulations using Complexity Analysis

To investigate the relationship between local blood flux and heart rate variability following different thermal stimulations, healthy subjects were recruited and subject to different thermal stimulations on the right forearm. Multiscale entropy and multiscale fuzzy entropy were used to measure the complexity of the local blood flux, and the approximate entropy was calculated to evaluate the HRV complexity. The results indicated that thermal stimulation significantly increased local blood flux and that different temperature stimulations resulted in different complexities in local blood flux. A 42 °C or 44 °C thermal stimulation, other than stimulations below 42 °C, resulted in a moderate correlation between local blood flux and heart rate variability complexity. The results provide a new perspective in terms of complexity to explore the relationship between skin blood flux signals and cardiac function.

Application of Multiscale Entropy in Assessing Plantar Skin Blood Flow Dynamics in Diabetics with Peripheral Neuropathy

Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is a common complication of diabetes mellitus, while tissue ischemia caused by impaired vasodilatory response to plantar pressure is thought to be a major factor of the development of DFUs, which has been assessed using various measures of skin blood flow (SBF) in the time or frequency domain. These measures, however, are incapable of characterizing nonlinear dynamics of SBF, which is an indicator of pathologic alterations of microcirculation in the diabetic foot. This study recruited 18 type 2 diabetics with peripheral neuropathy and eight healthy controls. SBF at the first metatarsal head in response to locally applied pressure and heating was measured using laser Doppler flowmetry. A multiscale entropy algorithm was utilized to quantify the regularity degree of the SBF responses. The results showed that during reactive hyperemia and thermally induced biphasic response, the regularity degree of SBF in diabetics underwent only small changes compared to baseline and significantly differed from that in controls at multiple scales (p < 0.05). On the other hand, the transition of regularity degree of SBF in diabetics distinctively differed from that in controls (p < 0.05). These findings indicated that multiscale entropy could provide a more comprehensive assessment of impaired microvascular reactivity in the diabetic foot compared to other entropy measures based on only a single scale, which strengthens the use of plantar SBF dynamics to assess the risk for DFU.

Nonlinear dynamics of skin blood flow response to mechanical and thermal stresses in the plantar foot of diabetics with peripheral neuropathy

BACKGROUND

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) are a major complication in diabetics. Impaired microvascular reactivity is a major contributor to the development of DFU and has been traditionally quantified by time-domain or frequency-domain measures of skin blood flow (SBF). These measures, however, are unable to characterize the changes of nonlinear dynamics of SBF associated with diabetes and peripheral neuropathy.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to investigate altered nonlinear dynamics of skin blood flow in the plantar foot of diabetics with peripheral neuropathy.

METHODS

18 type 2 diabetics with peripheral neuropathy and 8 healthy controls were recruited. SBF at the first metatarsal head in response to a loading pressure of 300 mmHg and a local heating was measured using laser Doppler flowmetry. A sample entropy approach was used to quantify the degree of regularity of SBF.

RESULTS

Our results showed that the regularity degree of SBF in the diabetic foot underwent only small changes during post-occlusive reactive hyperemia and thermally induced biphasic response compared to non-diabetics. SBF of the diabetic foot has higher degree of irregularity during reactive hyperemia because of attenuated myogenic activity, and demonstrated higher regularity during the biphasic response largely due to significantly enhanced cardiac activities.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that the regularity degree of SBF at the first metatarsal head could be used to assess impaired microvascular reactivity and thus may be used to assess the risk for DFU in diabetics with peripheralneuropathy.

Using Modified Sample Entropy to Characterize Aging-Associated Microvascular Dysfunction

Cutaneous microvascular function can be assessed by skin blood flow (SBF) response to thermal stimuli. Usually, the activities of the regulatory mechanisms are quantified by means of spectral analysis of the response. However, spectral measures are unable to characterize the nonlinear dynamics of SBF signal. Sample entropy (SampEn) is a commonly used nonlinear measure of the degree of regularity of time series. However, SampEn value depends on the relationship between the frequency of the studied dynamics and sampling rate. Hence, when time series data are oversampled, SampEn may give misleading results. We modified the definition of SampEn by including a lag between successive data points of the vectors to be compared to address the oversampled issue. The lag could be chosen as the first minimum of the auto mutual information function of the time series. We tested the performance of modified SampEn using simulated signals and SBF data in the young and old groups. The results indicated that modified SampEn yields consistent results for different sampling rates in simulated data, but SampEn cannot. Blood flow data showed a higher degree of regularity during the maximal vasodilation period as compared to the baseline in both groups and a higher degree of regularity in the older group as compared to the young group. Furthermore, our results showed that during the second peak the more regular behavior of blood flow oscillations (BFO) is mainly attributed to enhanced cardiac oscillations. This study suggests that the modified SampEn approach may be useful for assessing microvascular function.

Evaluation of a Decision Support System for Obstructive Sleep Apnea with Nonlinear Analysis of Respiratory Signals

Introduction

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a common sleep disorder requiring the time/money consuming polysomnography for diagnosis. Alternative methods for initial evaluation are sought. Our aim was the prediction of Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI) in patients potentially suffering from OSA based on nonlinear analysis of respiratory biosignals during sleep, a method that is related to the pathophysiology of the disorder.

Materials and Methods

Patients referred to a Sleep Unit (135) underwent full polysomnography. Three nonlinear indices (Largest Lyapunov Exponent, Detrended Fluctuation Analysis and Approximate Entropy) extracted from two biosignals (airflow from a nasal cannula, thoracic movement) and one linear derived from Oxygen saturation provided input to a data mining application with contemporary classification algorithms for the creation of predictive models for AHI.

Results

A linear regression model presented a correlation coefficient of 0.77 in predicting AHI. With a cutoff value of AHI = 8, the sensitivity and specificity were 93% and 71.4% in discrimination between patients and normal subjects. The decision tree for the discrimination between patients and normal had sensitivity and specificity of 91% and 60%, respectively. Certain obtained nonlinear values correlated significantly with commonly accepted physiological parameters of people suffering from OSA.

Discussion

We developed a predictive model for the presence/severity of OSA using a simple linear equation and additional decision trees with nonlinear features extracted from 3 respiratory recordings. The accuracy of the methodology is high and the findings provide insight to the underlying pathophysiology of the syndrome.

Conclusions

Reliable predictions of OSA are possible using linear and nonlinear indices from only 3 respiratory signals during sleep. The proposed models could lead to a better study of the pathophysiology of OSA and facilitate initial evaluation/follow up of suspected patients OSA utilizing a practical low cost methodology.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01161381

REVIEW: HEMODYNAMIC STUDIES FOR LOWER LIMB AMPUTATION AND REHABILITATION

No matter what the reason and level of amputation are, amputees will face many complex postoperative problems and potential complications. From the perioperative stage to lengthy rehabilitation process, patients need comprehensive and cautious therapies to help them rebuild their physical and mental health. Although there is some scattered information, the achievements of hemodynamic study for lower limb amputation and rehabilitation have not been systematically classified and summarized. The purpose of this review is to introduce and discuss the hemodynamic issues in preoperative diagnosis, surgical techniques and postoperative problems in the past two decades. Whether from clinical or biomechanical perspective, the investigations of the former two stages have been relatively mature and gained some clear outcomes, even if some conclusions are conflicting and controversial. While in terms of the postoperative problems, such as the common pressure ulcers, DTI and muscle atrophy, there is a lack of vascular or blood flow state studies specifically for lower residual limb. Therefore, the future research focus of hemodynamics for lower limb amputation should probably be the detailed investigations on the relationships between various blood flow parameters and certain common complications. Although hemodynamic research has made some achievements at this stage, it is believed that more advanced and reliable techniques are pending for further explorations and developments.

Assessing skin blood flow dynamics in older adults using a modified sample entropy approach

The aging process may result in attenuated microvascular reactivity in response to environmental stimuli, which can be evaluated by analyzing skin blood flow (SBF) signals. Among various methods for analyzing physiological signals, sample entropy (SE) is commonly used to quantify the degree of regularity of time series. However, we found that for temporally correlated data, SE value depends on the sampling rate. When data are oversampled, SE may give misleading results. To address this problem, we propose to modify the definition of SE by using time-lagged vectors in the calculation of the conditional probability that any two vectors of successive data points are within a tolerance r for m points remain within the tolerance at the next point. The lag could be chosen as the first minimum of the auto mutual information function. We tested the performance of modified SE using simulated signals and SBF data. The results showed that modified SE is able to quantify the degree of regularity of the signals regardless of sampling rate. Using this approach, we observed a more regular behavior of blood flow oscillations (BFO) during local heating-induced maximal vasodilation period compared to the baseline in young and older adults and a more regular behavior of BFO in older adults compared to young adults. These results suggest that modified SE may be useful in the study of SBF dynamics.

Assessing complexity of skin blood flow oscillations in response to locally applied heating and pressure in rats: implications for pressure ulcer risk

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of local heating on complexity of skin blood flow oscillations (BFO) under prolonged surface pressure in rats. Eleven Sprague-Dawley rats were studied: 7 rats underwent surface pressure with local heating (Δt = 10 °C) and 4 rats underwent pressure without heating. A pressure of 700 mmHg was applied to the right trochanter area of rats for 3 h. Skin blood flow was measured using laser Doppler flowmetry. The loading period was divided into nonoverlapping 30 min epochs. For each epoch, multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MDFA) was utilized to compute DFA coefficients and complexity of endothelia related metabolic, neurogenic, and myogenic frequencies of BFO. The results showed that under surface pressure, local heating led to a significant decrease in DFA coefficients of myogenic frequency during the initial epoch of loading period, a sustained decrease in complexity of myogenic frequency, and a significantly higher degree of complexity of metabolic frequency during the later phase of loading period. Surrogate tests showed that the reduction in complexity of myogenic frequency was associated with a loss of nonlinearity whereas increased complexity of metabolic frequency was associated with enhanced nonlinearity. Our results indicate that increased metabolic activity and decreased myogenic response due to local heating manifest themselves not only in magnitudes of metabolic and myogenic frequencies but also in their structural complexity. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using complexity analysis of BFO to monitor the ischemic status of weight-bearing skin and risk of pressure ulcers.

Complexity analysis of the microcirculatory-blood-flow response following acupuncture stimulation

Beat-to-beat cardiovascular variability analysis provides important information on the circulatory regulatory activities. Changes in the arterial pulse transmission or the opening condition of arteriolar openings might change the fluctuation pattern of the MBF supply, and thus change the complexity property therein. We performed complexity analysis of beat-to-beat laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) signals to study the microcirculatory-blood-flow (MBF) response at the needled site (Hegu acupoint) following acupuncture stimulation (AS). LDF signals were measured in male healthy volunteers (n=29). Each experiment involved recording a 20-minute baseline-data sequence and two sets of effects data recorded 0-20 and 50-70min after stopping AS. Approximate-entropy (ApEn) analysis, which quantifies the unpredictability of fluctuations in a time series, was performed on each 20-minute beat-to-beat LDF data sequence. The present findings indicate that AS can not only improve the local blood supply but may also increase ApEn values and decrease MBF variability parameters. This was the first attempt to apply complexity analysis to LDF signals in order to elucidate microcirculatory responses following AS. The observed results are probably attributable to the contradictory effects on the MBF supply induced by AS, which might interfere with the microcirculatory regulatory activities so as to increase the complexity of LDF signals. The present findings could help to identify the mechanism underlying the effects of AS, might aid the development of an index for monitoring the induced microcirculatory regulatory responses, and thus provide an evidence-based connection between AS and modern physiology.

Skin blood flow dynamics and its role in pressure ulcers

Pressure ulcers are a significant healthcare problem affecting the quality of life in wheelchair bounded or bed-ridden people and are a major cost to the healthcare system. Various assessment tools such as the Braden scale have been developed to quantify the risk level of pressure ulcers. These tools have provided an initial guideline on preventing pressure ulcers while additional assessments are needed to improve the outcomes of pressure ulcer prevention. Skin blood flow function that determines the ability of the skin in response to ischemic stress has been proposed to be a good indicator for identifying people at risk of pressure ulcers. Wavelet spectral and nonlinear complexity analyses have been performed to investigate the influences of the metabolic, neurogenic and myogenic activities on microvascular regulation in people with various pathological conditions. These findings have contributed to the understanding of the role of ischemia and viability on the development of pressure ulcers. The purpose of the present review is to provide an introduction of the basic concepts and approaches for the analysis of skin blood flow oscillations, and present an overview of the research results obtained so far. We hope this information may contribute to the development of better clinical guidelines for the prevention of pressure ulcers.

Enhanced phase synchronization of blood flow oscillations between heated and adjacent non-heated sacral skin

The study of skin microcirculation may be used to assess risk for pressure ulcers. It is observed that local heating causes an increase in blood flow of not only the heated skin, but also in the adjacent non-heated skin. The underlying physiological mechanism of this indirect vasodilation of the non-heated skin remains unclear. We hypothesized that blood flow oscillations (BFO) in the adjacent non-heated skin area synchronize with BFO in the heated skin, thus inducing a vasodilatory response. We investigated BFO in the heated and adjacent non-heated skin (12.1 ± 1.2-cm distance) on the sacrum in 12 healthy participants. The ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) was used to decompose blood flow signals into a set of intrinsic mode functions (IMFs), and the IMFs with power spectra over the frequency range of 0.0095-0.02, 0.02-0.05, and 0.05-0.15 Hz were chosen as the characteristic components corresponding to metabolic, neurogenic, and myogenic regulations, respectively. Then, the instantaneous phase of the characteristic components was calculated using the Hilbert transform. From the time series of phase difference between a pair of characteristic components, the epochs of phase synchronization were detected. The results showed that myogenic and neurogenic BFO exhibited self-phase synchronization during the slower vasodilation of the heated skin. In the non-heated skin, the degree of synchronization of BFO is associated with the changes in blood flow.

Using recurrence network approach to quantify nonlinear dynamics of skin blood flow in response to loading pressure

This paper presents a recurrence network approach to quantify dynamic complexity of skin blood flow oscillations (BFO) in response to loading pressure. This approach consists of three processes, including 1) phase space reconstruction by means of time delay embedding, 2) construction of a recurrence matrix that represents neighboring states in phase space, and 3) consideration of the recurrence matrix as an adjacency matrix representing links in a network and the use of clustering coefficients to characterize phase space properties. By using the Lorenz system and real data, we demonstrate that the global clustering coefficient is robust to the embedding parameters. We applied this approach to study skin BFO at baseline and during loading pressure, a causative factor of skin breakdown. The results showed that global clustering coefficients of BFO significantly decreased in response to loading ( &#60;0.05). Moreover, surrogate tests indicated that such a decrease was associated with a loss of nonlinearity of BFO. Our results suggest that the recurrence network approach can practically quantify the nonlinear dynamics of BFO.

Fractal scaling of laser Doppler flowmetry time series in patients with essential hypertension

The full diagnostic potential of the fractal complexity measure, α, of detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) has not been realized yet. To reveal the impaired mechanisms in the blood flow regulation in patients with essential hypertension (EHT), we studied the laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) time series by applying DFA. Forearm microvascular blood flow was measured by LDF during supine rest. After a 15 min baseline recording, microvascular response to thermal hyperemia was measured over 30 min. We found three distinct scaling regions; corresponding to the integration of local mechanisms, cardiac effect on local blood flow, and the coupling of extrinsic factors (cardiac and respiratory) to local blood flow by myogenic mechanism. In the control group, local scaling exponent, α(L)=0.96 ± 0.08, did not change but cardiac scaling exponent, α(C)=1.53 ± 0.05, for baseline signal was increased to α(CT)=1.73 ± 0.10 and cardio-respiratory scaling exponent, α(CR)=0.73 ± 0.19, was decreased to α(CRT)=0.24 ± 0.06 during vasodilatation in response to local heating. However, we found significantly different scaling exponents, α(LT)<1, α(CT) ≥ α(C)<1.5 and α(CR) ≈ α(CRT)>0.5 in patients with EHT. Our findings suggest that the local regulatory and the cushioning peripheral vascular functions are impaired in patients with EHT, and vascular/microvascular pathology can be evaluated by applying DFA to LDF signal.

Multifractal analysis of nonlinear complexity of sacral skin blood flow oscillations in older adults

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between cutaneous vasodilatory function and nonlinear complexity of blood flow oscillations (BFO) in older people. A non-painful fast local heating protocol was applied to the sacral skin in 20 older subjects with various vasodilatory functions. Laser Doppler flowmetry was used to measure skin blood oscillations. The complexity of the characteristic frequencies (i.e., metabolic (0.0095-0.02 Hz), neurogenic (0.02-0.05 Hz), myogenic (0.05-0.15 Hz), respiratory (0.15-0.4 Hz), and cardiac (0.4-2 Hz)) of BFO was quantified using the multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis. Compared with the 65-75 years group, the complexity of metabolic BFO in the 75-85 years group was significantly lower at the baseline (P < 0.05) and the second peak (P < 0.001). Compared with baseline BFO, subjects in the 65-75 years group had a significant increase in the complexity of metabolic BFO (P < 0.01) in response to local heating; while subjects in the 75-85 years group did not. Our findings support the use of multifractal analysis to assess aging-related microvascular dysfunction.

Multiscale entropy of laser Doppler flowmetry signals in healthy human subjects

PURPOSE

The cardiovascular system (CVS) regulation can be studied from a central viewpoint, through heart rate variability (HRV) data, and from a peripheral viewpoint, through laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) signals. Both the central and peripheral CVSs are regulated by several interacting mechanisms, each having its own temporal scale. The central CVS has been the subject of many multiscale studies. By contrast, these studies at the level of the peripheral CVS are very recent. Among the multiscale studies performed on the central CVS data, multiscale entropy has been proven to give interesting physiological information for diagnostic purposes. However, no multiscale entropy analysis has been performed on LDF signals. The authors' goal is therefore to propose a first multiscale entropy study of LDF data recorded in healthy subjects.

METHODS

The LDF signals recorded in the forearm of seven healthy subjects are processed. Their period sampling is T=50 ms, and coarse-graining scales from T to 23T are studied. Also, for validation, the algorithm is first tested on synthetic signals of known theoretical multiscale entropy.

RESULTS

The results reveal nonmonotonic evolution of the multiscale entropy of LDF signals, with a maximum at small scales around 7T and a minimum at longer scales around 18T, singling out in this way two distinctive scales where the LDF signals undergo specific changes from high to low complexity. This also marks a strong contrast with the HRV signals that usually display a monotonic increase in the evolution of the multiscale entropy.

CONCLUSIONS

Multiscale entropy of LDF signals in healthy subjects shows variation with scales. Moreover, as the variation pattern observed appears similar for all the tested signals, multiscale entropy could potentially be a useful stationary signature for LDF signals, which otherwise are probe-position and subject dependent. Further work could now be conducted to evaluate possible diagnostic purposes of the multiscale entropy of LDF signals.