Investigation of biphasic tumor oxygen dynamics induced by hyperoxic gas intervention: the dynamic phantom approach

We have developed dynamic tumor vascular phantoms and utilized them to investigate the biphasic behavior of increases in light absorption, which is directly associated with oxygenated hemoglobin concentration that was observed in vivo from rat breast tumor experiments during carbogen/oxygen inhalation. The experimental setup for the phantom study included a continuous-wave, multichannel, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) system and syringe pumps to drive the simulated blood through the dynamic vascular phantoms. The results from such phantom experiments clearly show that the two time constants observed in tumor oxygenation dynamics in vivo can result from two different perfusion rates or two different blood flow velocities. We provide experimental support for our previous hypothesis: the biphasic tumor hemodynamic feature stems from a well-perfused and poorly perfused region that could be detected with the two time constants of the NIRS signals. With a multichannel approach, noninvasive NIRS measurements may have useful and prognostic values to quantify the therapeutic effects of cancer treatments.