Optimizing Transcutaneous Oxygen Measurement Sites on Humans.

This study utilizes an optical method of transcutaneous oxygen sensing that has the potential to revolutionize at-home care. This technique is based on quenching the luminescence of a platinum porphyrin film. Since oxygen quenches luminescence, its lifetime is further measured to assess the partial pressure of transcutaneous oxygen diffusing through the skin. Unlike conventional transcutaneous oxygen monitors that use electrochemical sensors, the luminescence-based sensor allows the use of dry electrodes that do not require heating and reduce the risk of accidental skin irritations or burns. These properties not only improve patient safety but also allow the creation of miniature wearable transcutaneous oxygen sensors for continuous and accurate remote respiratory monitoring. To this end, it is critical to assess the efficiency of the wearable sensor by determining the optimal location for its placement on the body. Depending on the location on the body, physiological factors such as blood flow rate and skin thickness affect dermal perfusion of transcutaneous oxygen. In this work, four healthy volunteers participated in subject testing. We assessed each participant at the following locations: thumb, top of the wrist, forearm, thigh, and shin. All locations consistently reported accurate and reliable data. Among them, the thumb demonstrated shorter settling times and the most uniform luminescence lifetime values.

A Prototype Wearable Device for Noninvasive Monitoring of Transcutaneous Oxygen.

Transcutaneous oxygen monitoring is a noninvasive method for measuring the partial pressure of oxygen diffusing through the skin, which strongly correlates with changes in dissolved oxygen in the arteries. Luminescent oxygen sensing is one of the techniques for assessing transcutaneous oxygen. Intensity- and lifetime-based measurements are two well-known methods used in this technique. The latter is more immune to optical path changes and reflections, making the measurements less vulnerable to motion artifacts and skin color changes. Although the lifetime-based method is promising, the acquisition of high-resolution lifetime data is crucial for accurate transcutaneous oxygen measurements from the human body when skin is not heated. We have built a compact prototype along with its custom firmware for the lifetime estimation of transcutaneous oxygen with a provision of a wearable device. Furthermore, we performed a small experiment study on three healthy human volunteers to prove the concept of measuring oxygen diffusing from the skin without heating. Lastly, the prototype successfully detected changes in lifetime values driven by the changes in transcutaneous oxygen partial pressure due to pressure-induced arterial occlusion and hypoxic gas delivery. The prototype resolved a minimum change of 1.34 ns in a lifetime that corresponds to 0.031 mmHg in response to slow changes in the oxygen pressure in the volunteer's body caused by hypoxic gas delivery. The prototype is believed to be the first in the literature to successfully conduct measurements in human subjects using the lifetime-based technique.