Detection of Peripheral Arterial Disease Within the Foot Using Vascular Optical Tomographic Imaging: A Clinical Pilot Study

Happy New year 2016

Detection of Peripheral Arterial Disease Within the Foot Using Vascular Optical Tomographic Imaging: A Clinical Pilot Study

M.A. Khalil

http://www.ejves.com/article/S1078-5884(14)00578-4/fulltext

Vascular optical tomographic imaging (VOTI) is a novel imaging modality that is capable of detecting hemoglobin concentrations in tissue. VOTI is non-invasive, non-ionizing and does not require contrast injection. This technology was applied to the diagnosis of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) within lower extremities of diabetic patients with calcified arteries. This could be of substantial benefit as these patients suffer from comorbidities such as arterial incompressibility, which complicates diagnosis and monitoring.

The VOTI system with its sandal shaped measuring probe provides cross sectional images of hemoglobin concentrations in the foot.

This figure shows coronal cross sectional images from a healthy volunteer, a PAD patient, and a diabetic PAD patient. The five frames shown outline the hemodynamics during the thigh cuff occlusion and release. The healthy volunteer has a greater amount of blood pooling in the leg during the occlusion as well as a faster reaction to the application and release of the thigh cuff.

Conclusion

VOTI can effectively diagnose PAD independently of arterial compressibility, making it very useful for assessing vascular disease in diabetic patients.