Transepidermal oxygen flux during arterial occlusion using ratiometric luminescence imaging

A physiological oxygen transport through a circulatory and microcirculatory system is essential for execution of cellular functions. Several pathological conditions e.g. infections, ischemia, cancer, diabetes, hypertension or chronic wounds show a change of oxygen distribution and oxygen tension in cellular microenvironment. Additionally complex operative procedures in order to reconstruct tissue defects require a reliable monitoring of microcirculation.

Target of this study was to evaluate skin oxygenation during an ischemia-reperfusion experiment using transepidermal oxygen flux imaging.

Twelve patients at the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive surgery of the University hospital of Regensburg underwent to elective hand operations. During the operation a tourniquet is standardly set on the upper arm to create ischemia in order to facilitate the operative procedure. Measurements were performed at the different time intervals: in rest, under ischemia and after reperfusion.

The transepidermal oxygen flux increased during the ischemic condition compared to normal condition and decreased to a lower value during reperfusion (rest: 0.043±0.007, ischemia: 0.063±0.014, reperfusion: 0.030±0.028).

Transepidermal oxygen flux imaging by ratiometric luminescence imaging seems to be a reliable tool to assess skin oxygenation. However dynamic changes seem to be more informative than absolute thresholds. Further investigations are necessary to prove these promising results.