Response of Cutaneous Laser Velocimetry to a Temperature Change: Normal and Dysvascular Patients Compared

Abstract

In previous studies of skin blood flow using a helium flux technique, we found a linear relationship between blood flow and skin temperature. In this paper we compared the helium flux method to laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV) over a range of temperatures in 5 normal healthy volunteers. In a separate normal group we measured the increase in LDV signal to a temperature change in both the volar aspect of the forearm and the dorsum of the foot. We then compared the LDV temperature response data from the normal subjects with data from a group of 20 patients with known peripheral vascular disease of the lower extremities and found a highly significant reduction in LDV output vs temperature in the patient groups. We concluded that the LDV temperature response data provide a convenient method for comparison of LDV data be tween patients and between sites on the same patient.