Namisnak Laura H, Khoshnevis Sepideh, Diller Kenneth R
Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 107 W Dean Keeton Street Stop C0800, Austin, TX 78712.
J Biomech Eng. 2019 Dec 1;141(12):1245041-6. doi: 10.1115/1.4045114.
The objective of this study was to test the feasibility of selective thermal stimulation (STS) as a method to upregulate glabrous skin blood flow. STS is accomplished by mild surface heating along the spinal cord. Four healthy subjects were tested in this study. Each participated in a control experiment and an intervention experiment (STS). Both experiments included establishing a maximum level of vasodilation, considered unique to a subject on a test day, and then cooling to a maximum level of vasoconstriction. Perfusion was measured by a laser Doppler flow probe on the index fingertip. The percent of perfusion in the range of minimum to maximum was the primary outcome variable. The data were fit to a linear mixed effects model to determine if STS had a significant influence on perfusion during whole body cooling. STS had a statistically significant effect on perfusion and increased glabrous skin blood flow by 16.3% (P < 0.001, CI (13.1%, 19.5%)) as skin temperature was decreased. This study supports the theory that STS improves the heat exchanger efficiency of palmar and plantar surfaces by increasing the blood flow.
本研究的目的是测试选择性热刺激（STS）作为一种上调无毛皮肤血流方法的可行性。STS通过沿脊髓进行温和的表面加热来实现。本研究对四名健康受试者进行了测试。每位受试者都参与了一个对照实验和一个干预实验（STS）。两个实验都包括建立一个最大血管舒张水平（在测试日被认为是受试者特有的），然后冷却至最大血管收缩水平。通过激光多普勒血流探头测量食指指尖的灌注。最小到最大范围内的灌注百分比是主要结局变量。数据拟合线性混合效应模型，以确定STS在全身冷却过程中对灌注是否有显著影响。当皮肤温度降低时，STS对灌注有统计学显著影响，无毛皮肤血流增加了16.3%（P < 0.001，CI（13.1%，19.5%））。本研究支持以下理论：STS通过增加血流量来提高手掌和足底表面的热交换器效率。
