Continuous monitoring of interstitial tissue oxygen using subcutaneous oxygen microsensors: In vivo characterization in healthy volunteers

Publication date: Available online 8 February 2019Source: Microvascular ResearchAuthor(s): Stephen C. Kanick, Peter A. Schneider, Bruce Klitzman, Natalie A. Wisniewski, Kerstin RebrinAbstractMeasurements of regional tissue oxygen serve as a proxy to monitor local perfusion and have the potential to guide therapeutic decisions in multiple clinical disciplines. Transcutaneous oximetry (tcpO2) is a commercially available noninvasive technique that uses an electrode to warm underlying skin tissue and measure the resulting oxygen tension at the skin surface. A novel approach is to directly measure interstitial tissue oxygen using subcutaneous oxygen microsensors composed of a biocompatible hydrogel carrier platform with embedded oxygen sensing molecules. After initial injection of the hydrogel into subcutaneous tissue, noninvasive optical measurements of phosphorescence-based emissions at the skin surface are used to sense oxygen in the subcutaneous interstitial space. The object of the present study was to characterize the in vivo performance of subcutaneous microsensors and compare with transcutaneous oximetry (tcpO2). Vascular occlusion tests were performed on the arms of 7 healthy volunteers, with repeated tests occurring 1 to 10 weeks after sensor injection, yielding 95 total tests for analysis. Comparative analysis characterized the response of both devices to decreases in tissue oxygen during occlusion and to increases in tissue oxygen following release of the occlusion. ...

Source: Microvascular Research - February 9, 2019 Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research