Erratum: Assessment of power spectral density of microvascular hemodynamics in skeletal muscles at very low and low-frequency via near-infrared diffuse optical spectroscopies: erratum.

[This corrects the article on p. 5994 in vol. 14, PMID: 38021143.].

Non-Invasive Monitoring of Microvascular Oxygenation and Reactive Hyperemia using Hybrid, Near-Infrared Diffuse Optical Spectroscopy for Critical Care.

The detection of levels of impairment in microvascular oxygen consumption and reactive hyperemia is vital in critical care. However, there are no practical means for a robust and quantitative evaluation. This paper describes a protocol to evaluate these impairments using a hybrid near-infrared diffuse optical device. The device contains modules for near-infrared time-resolved and diffuse correlation spectroscopies and pulse-oximetry. These modules allow the non-invasive, continuous, and real-time measurement of the absolute, microvascular blood/tissue oxygen saturation (StO2) and the blood flow index (BFI) along with the peripheral arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2). This device uses an integrated, computer-controlled tourniquet system to execute a standardized protocol with optical data acquisition from the brachioradialis muscle. The standardized vascular occlusion test (VOT) takes care of the variations in the occlusion duration and pressure reported in the literature, while the automation minimizes inter-operator differences. The protocol we describe focuses on a 3-min occlusion period but the details described in this paper can readily be adapted to other durations and cuff pressures, as well as other muscles. The inclusion of an extended baseline and post-occlusion recovery period measurement allows the quantification of the baseline values for all the parameters and the blood/tissue deoxygenation rate that corresponds to the metabolic rate of oxygen consumption. Once the cuff is released, we characterize the tissue reoxygenation rate, magnitude, and duration of the hyperemic response in BFI and StO2. These latter parameters correspond to the quantification of the reactive hyperemia, which provides information about the endothelial function. Furthermore, the above-mentioned measurements of the absolute concentration of oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin, BFI, the derived metabolic rate of oxygen consumption, StO2, and SpO2 provide a yet-to-be-explored rich data set that can exhibit disease severity, personalized therapeutics, and management interventions.

Assessment of power spectral density of microvascular hemodynamics in skeletal muscles at very low and low-frequency via near-infrared diffuse optical spectroscopies.

In this work, we used a hybrid time domain near-infrared spectroscopy (TD-NIRS) and diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) device to retrieve hemoglobin and blood flow oscillations of skeletal muscle microvasculature. We focused on very low (VLF) and low-frequency (LF) oscillations (i.e., frequency lower than 0.145 Hz), that are related to myogenic, neurogenic and endothelial activities. We measured power spectral density (PSD) of blood flow and hemoglobin concentration in four muscles (thenar eminence, plantar fascia, sternocleidomastoid and forearm) of 14 healthy volunteers to highlight possible differences in microvascular hemodynamic oscillations. We observed larger PSDs for blood flow compared to hemoglobin concentration, in particular in case of distal muscles (i.e., thenar eminence and plantar fascia). Finally, we compared the PSDs measured on the thenar eminence of healthy subjects with the ones measured on a septic patient in the intensive care unit: lower power in the endothelial-dependent frequency band, and larger power in the myogenic ones were observed in the septic patient, in accordance with previous works based on laser doppler flowmetry.

Theoretical and experimental investigation of generating pulsed Bessel-Gauss beams by using an axicon-based resonator.

Nondiffracting Bessel-Gauss beams are assumed as the superposition of infinite numbers of Gaussian beams whose wave vectors lie on a cone. Based on such a description, different methods are suggested to generate these fields. In this paper, we followed an active scheme to generate these beams. By introducing an axicon-based resonator, we designed the appropriate resonator, studied its resonance modes, and analyzed the beam propagation outside the resonator. Experimentally, we succeeded to obtain Bessel-Gauss beams of the first kind and zero order. We also investigated the changes in effective parameters on the output beam, both theoretically and experimentally.

Generation of pulsed Bessel-Gauss beams using passive axicon-theoretical and experimental studies.

We studied the conditions for generating passive Bessel-Gauss beams by using an axicon. We designed an appropriate Gaussian resonator and extracted a quasi-fundamental Gaussian mode from a pulsed Nd:YAG laser pumped by a Xenon flash lamp and measured its parameters, such as propagation factor, divergence angle, and Rayleigh range. Then we generated passive Bessel-Gauss beams using an axicon and investigated their propagation properties, theoretically and experimentally. For example, for the axicon of 1°, the output energy and the Rayleigh range of the generated Bessel-Gauss beams were measured to be 58 mJ and 229.3 mm, respectively. We compared these properties with our results of the Gaussian mode. Finally, by using axicons with different apex angles, and also by changing the beam spot size on the axicon, we generated Bessel-Gauss beams and studied their properties theoretically and experimentally.