Back to basics: biophysical methods in tissue viability research

Abstract

Dr Peter Worsley and Dr David Voegeli provide an outline of several well-established methods of biophysical measurement used in tissue viability research, which have begun to crossover into clinical practice.

Non-invasive Technologies of Tissue Viability Measurement for Pressure Ulcer Prevention in Spinal Cord Injury

“…The sample volume comprises capillaries and more deeply localized shunt vessels. A concise review of the developments in laser Doppler methods has been described previously [16,17].…”

“…LDF has been extensively used by researchers to measure tissue perfusion across many medical realms [16,17]. It is also expended to certain clinical applications.…”

“…It is also expended to certain clinical applications. For instance, in plastic surgery, LDF have been used to monitor perfusion in free skin flaps and has proved useful in providing early indications of reduced perfusion and flap vulnerability, before clinically observed signs [17]. LDF is widely used by researchers as well to assess microvascular function in SCI [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26].…”

“…Tissue viability thresholds for these changes have been defined for PU risk [39,40] and wound healing [41]. The transcutaneous gas tension measurement has been widely used for research and clinics across many medical fields including PU prevention [17]. In terms of research applications in SCI, transcutaneous gas tension measurement has been used to study microcirculatory changes in SCI since 1980s [42][43][44][45][46].…”

“…In fact, it was reported that more skin burn marks have been seen in clinic follow-ups 20 years ago when the transcutaneous temperature of 44°C was used. Due to the heating side effect, 43.5°C is now widely recommended [17]. Another disadvantage of this technique is that the rigid probe can potentially increase local pressure when it is applied over bony areas.…”