title: Optical microcirculatory skin model: assessed by Monte Carlo simulations paired with in vivo laser Doppler flowmetry.
abstract: An optical microvascular skin model, valid at 780 nm, was developed. The model consisted of six layers with individual optical properties and variable thicknesses and blood concentrations at three different blood flow velocities. Monte Carlo simulations were used to evaluate the impact of various model parameters on the traditional laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) measures. A set of reference Doppler power spectra was generated by simulating 7000 configurations, varying the thickness and blood concentrations. Simulated spectra, at two different source detector separations, were compared with in vivo recorded spectra, using a nonlinear search algorithm for minimizing the deviation between simulated and measured spectra. The model was validated by inspecting the thickness and blood concentrations that generated the best fit. These four parameters followed a priori expectations for the measurement situations, and the simulated spectra agreed well with the measured spectra for both detector separations. Average estimated dermal blood concentration was 0.08% at rest and 0.63% during heat provocation (44 degrees C) on the volar side of the forearm and 1.2% at rest on the finger pulp. The model is crucial for developing a technique for velocity-resolved absolute LDF measurements with known sampling volume and can also be useful for other bio-optical modalities.
authors.affiliation: Linköping University, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University Hospital, S-581 85 Linköping, Sweden. ingfr@imt.liu.se
authors.forename: Ingemar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fredriksson
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Larsson
authors.forename: Tomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Strömberg
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006801:Humans; D017078:Laser-Doppler Flowmetry / Q000379:methods*; D008833:Microcirculation / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012867:Skin / Q000098:blood supply*; D012879:Skin Physiological Phenomena