Measurement of regional blood flow using hydrogen gas generated by electrolysis.

Electrochemically generated hydrogen gas was used to measure local blood flow by Stosseck et al. The data obtained by their method, however, did not correlate well with those obtained by hydrogen inhalation. We have modified the equation proposed by Stosseck, prolonging the stimulus duration in order to increase the amount of hydrogen generated. In dog white matter the resulting clearance curves were formed to be monoexponential both in the living animal as well as after circulatory arrest when all the clearance is by diffusion away from the electrode. The values calculated by our equation correlated well with those obtained by hydrogen inhalation.