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Chen WL, Wagner J, Heugel N, Sugar J, Lee YW, Conant L, Malloy M, Heffernan J, Quirk B, Zinos A, Beardsley SA, Prost R, Whelan HT. Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy and Its Clinical Application in the Field of Neuroscience: Advances and Future Directions. Front Neurosci 2020; 14:724. [PMID: 32742257 PMCID: PMC7364176 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2020.00724] [Citation(s) in RCA: 134] [Impact Index Per Article: 33.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2020] [Accepted: 06/17/2020] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Similar to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) detects the changes of hemoglobin species inside the brain, but via differences in optical absorption. Within the near-infrared spectrum, light can penetrate biological tissues and be absorbed by chromophores, such as oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin. What makes fNIRS more advantageous is its portability and potential for long-term monitoring. This paper reviews the basic mechanisms of fNIRS and its current clinical applications, the limitations toward more widespread clinical usage of fNIRS, and current efforts to improve the temporal and spatial resolution of fNIRS toward robust clinical usage within subjects. Oligochannel fNIRS is adequate for estimating global cerebral function and it has become an important tool in the critical care setting for evaluating cerebral oxygenation and autoregulation in patients with stroke and traumatic brain injury. When it comes to a more sophisticated utilization, spatial and temporal resolution becomes critical. Multichannel NIRS has improved the spatial resolution of fNIRS for brain mapping in certain task modalities, such as language mapping. However, averaging and group analysis are currently required, limiting its clinical use for monitoring and real-time event detection in individual subjects. Advances in signal processing have moved fNIRS toward individual clinical use for detecting certain types of seizures, assessing autonomic function and cortical spreading depression. However, its lack of accuracy and precision has been the major obstacle toward more sophisticated clinical use of fNIRS. The use of high-density whole head optode arrays, precise sensor locations relative to the head, anatomical co-registration, short-distance channels, and multi-dimensional signal processing can be combined to improve the sensitivity of fNIRS and increase its use as a wide-spread clinical tool for the robust assessment of brain function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei-Liang Chen
- Department of Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States.,Department of Neurology, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States.,School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Julie Wagner
- Department of Biochemical Engineering, Marquette University and Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States
| | - Nicholas Heugel
- Department of Biochemical Engineering, Marquette University and Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States
| | - Jeffrey Sugar
- Department of Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States
| | - Yu-Wen Lee
- Department of Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States.,Department of Neurology, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States
| | - Lisa Conant
- Department of Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States
| | - Marsha Malloy
- Department of Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States.,Department of Neurology, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States
| | - Joseph Heffernan
- Department of Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States
| | - Brendan Quirk
- Department of Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States
| | - Anthony Zinos
- Department of Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States.,Department of Biochemical Engineering, Marquette University and Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States
| | - Scott A Beardsley
- Department of Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States.,Department of Biochemical Engineering, Marquette University and Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States
| | - Robert Prost
- Department of Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States
| | - Harry T Whelan
- Department of Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States.,Department of Neurology, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States
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