Wavelet analysis of blood flow dynamics: effect on the individual oscillatory components of iontophoresis with neutral electrolytes

Abstract. Iontophoresis currents are used in the transcutaneous delivery of vasoactive substances for noninvasive assessment of skin vascular properties. The blood flow rate can be recorded by laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF), its average value and the amplitudes of its oscillatory components being used to evaluate the effect of the drugs. Because non-drug-specific, current-induced, vasodilation could confound the interpretation of the response, we have investigated the effect of currents of both polarities on the spectral components of the LDF signal in the absence of vasoactive substances. It was recorded for healthy volunteers with both high conductance (5 mol/l NaCl) and low conductance (deionised water) electrolytes. The oscillatory components were analysed by wavelet transform within 0.0095–1.6 Hz, divided into 5 sub-intervals. Only cathodal iontophoresis with deionised water increased the oscillatory energy and amplitude. It did so at all frequencies, but none of the sub-intervals associated with vasodilation (0.0095– 0.145 Hz) was selectively affected compared to the others.