Skin blood flow was measured by the clearance of radioactive xenon ((133)Xe) injected intracutaneously in eight patients with scleroderma and nine control subjects under conditions of controlled temperature and humidity. Scleroderma patients, on being cooled 1 hr at 18 degrees C, had a rate constant of (133)Xe clearance from the dorsal finger skin which was 0.04 +/-0.07 min(-1) (mean +/-SD), co...

Small nerve fibers regulate local skin blood flow in response to local thermal perturbations. Small nerve fiber function is difficult to assess with classical neurophysiological tests. In this study, a vasomotor response model in combination with a heating protocol was developed to quantitatively characterize the control mechanism of small nerve fibers in regulating skin blood flow in response ...

It has been proposed that insulin-mediated changes in muscle perfusion modulate insulin-mediated glucose uptake. However, the putative effects of insulin on the microcirculation that permit such modulation have not been studied in humans. We examined the effects of systemic hyperinsulinemia on skin microvascular function in eight healthy nondiabetic subjects. In addition, the effects of locally...

Sensing technology provides quantitative characterization of blood flow, hydration, perfusion, skin temperature, and thermal transport properties.

Interrelation of skin temperature and blood flow oscillations of fingers under normal conditions in healthy subjects has been investigated. Oscillations of a blood flow were measured by means of photoplethysmography; oscillations of a temperature were registered by means of thermal imaging camera. The method of blood flow reconstruction by temperature oscillations with the use of the Pennes bio...

Sickle cell disease is characterized by microvascular occlusion and hemolytic anemia, factors that impair tissue oxygen delivery. We use visible reflectance hyperspectral imaging to quantitate skin tissue hemoglobin oxygen saturation (HbO2) and to determine whether changes in blood flow during nitric oxide (NO) stimulation or gas administration (therapies proposed for this disease) improve skin...

Endothelial dysfunction is associated with increased cardiovascular mortality and morbidity; however, this dysfunction may be ameliorated by several therapies. For example, it has been reported that heat-induced increases in blood flow and shear stress enhance endothelium-mediated vasodilator function. Under these backgrounds, we expect that carbon dioxide (CO2)-rich water-induced increase in s...