Perfusion and oxygenation are critical parameters of muscle metabolism in health and disease. They have been both the target of many studies, in particular using near‐infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). However, difficulties with quantifying NIRS signals have limited a wide dissemination of the method to the clinics. Our aim was to investigate whether clinical multispectral optoacoustic tomography (MSOT) could enable the label‐free imaging of muscle perfusion and oxygenation under clinically relevant challenges: the arterial and venous occlusion. We employed a hybrid clinical MSOT/ultrasound system equipped with a hand‐held scanning probe to visualize hemodynamic and oxygenation changes in skeletal muscle under arterial and venous occlusions. Four (N = 4) healthy volunteers were scanned over the forearm for both 3‐minute occlusion challenges. MSOT‐recorded pathophysiologically expected results during tests of disturbed blood flow with high resolution and without the need for contrast agents. During arterial occlusion, MSOT‐extracted Hb‐values showed an increase, while HbO₂‐ and total blood volume (TBV)‐values remained roughly steady, followed by a discrete increase during the hyperemic period after cuff deflation. During venous occlusion, results showed a clear increase in intramuscular HbO₂, Hb and TBV within the segmented muscle area. MSOT was found to be capable of label‐free non‐invasive imaging of muscle hemodynamics and oxygenation under arterial and venous occlusion. We introduce herein MSOT as a novel modality for the assessment of vascular disorders characterized by disturbed blood flow, such as acute limb ischemia and venous thrombosis.

中文翻译：

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动脉和静脉闭塞下肌肉灌注和氧合的多光谱光声层析成像：一项人类先导研究。

灌注和氧合是健康和疾病中肌肉代谢的关键参数。它们都是许多研究的目标，特别是使用近红外光谱（NIRS）。然而，量化NIRS信号的困难限制了该方法在临床上的广泛传播。我们的目的是研究临床多光谱光声层析成像（MSOT）是否可以在临床相关挑战（动脉和静脉闭塞）下实现肌肉灌注和氧合的无标记成像。我们采用了配备手持扫描探针的混合型临床MSOT /超声系统，以可视化在动脉和静脉闭塞下骨骼肌的血流动力学和氧合变化。在前臂上扫描了四名（N = 4）健康志愿者，进行了3​​分钟的咬合挑战。MSOT记录的高分辨率高分辨率测试过程中的病理生理预期结果，无需使用造影剂。在动脉闭塞期间，MSOT提取的Hb值显示增加，而HbO₂和总血容量（TBV）值大致保持稳定，袖带放气后充血期间离散增加。在静脉闭塞过程中，结果显示，在分割的肌肉区域内，肌内HbO ₂，Hb和TBV明显增加。发现MSOT能够在动脉和静脉闭塞下对肌肉血流动力学和氧合进行无标记的非侵入性成像。我们在此介绍MSOT作为一种新颖的方式，用于评估以血液流动紊乱为特征的血管疾病，例如急性肢体缺血和静脉血栓形成。