Hyperspectral near-infrared spectroscopy assessment of the brain during hypoperfusion

Two-thirds of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients, who survive to hospital admission, die in the hospital from neurological injuries related to cerebral hypoperfusion. Therefore, noninvasive real-time monitoring of the cerebral oxygen metabolism in cardiac arrest patients is extremely important. Hyperspectral near-infrared spectroscopy (hNIRS) is a noninvasive technique that measures concentrations of the key chromophores in the brain, such as oxygenated hemoglobin, deoxygenated hemoglobin, and cytochrome C oxidase (CCO), an intracellular marker of oxygen consumption. We tested hNIRS on 10 patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve insertion, where rapid ventricular pacing (RVP) is required to temporarily induce sudden hypotension and hypoperfusion that mimic cardiac arrest. Using multidistance hNIRS, we found that tissue oxygen saturation changes in the cerebral tissue were lower than those in the scalp during RVP. CCO redox changes were detected in cerebral tissue but not in the scalp during RVP. We have demonstrated that hNIRS is feasible and can detect sudden changes in cerebral oxygenation and metabolism in patients during profound hypotension.