Abstract

The laser Doppler flowmetry technique has recently been used to report a significant transient increase of the cutaneous blood flow signal when a local non-noxious pressure is applied progressively on the skin (11.1 Pa/s). The present work analyses the dynamic characteristics of this vasodilatory reflex response on anaesthetised rats. A de-noising algorithm using wavelets is proposed to obtain accurate values of these dynamic characteristics. The blood flow peak and the time to reach this peak are computed on the de-noised recordings. The results show that the mean time to reach the peak of perfusion is 85.3 s (time t = 0 at the beginning of the pressure application). The mean peak value is 188.3 arbitrary units (a.u.), whereas the mean value of the perfusion before the pressure application is 113.4 a.u. The mean minimum value obtained at the end of the experiment is 60.7 a.u. This latter value is, on the average, reached 841.3 s after the beginning of the pressure application. The comparison of the dynamic characteristics, computed with the de-noising algorithm on signals obtained in other situations, will give a better understanding on some cutaneous lesions such as those present on diabetic people.

© 2003 SPIE