Peripheral vascular disease (PVD) comprises many pathological entities, and a variety of clinical expressions, being the 3rd most reported cause of cardiovascular disease. PVD continues to motivate more and better research to understand the many complexities involved, and to develop more effective preventive measures and therapeutics. Photoplethysmography (PPG) is a classic non-invasive technique used to explore in vivo circulation, progressively replaced by laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF). Recent advances enable the development of a new PPG system that seems to clearly improve the applicability of this technique. In this study, we apply and compare these two noninvasive measurement techniques after a massage manoeuvre in the human leg . This exploratory study involved seven volunteers, both sexes (19.6 ± 1.3 years old). Flow measurements took place in both limbs before (I), during (II) and after the massage manoeuvre (III). Other variables, including pulse and respiratory rates and blood pressure (BP), were also quantified. Results show that the simultaneous use of LDF and PPG enables the detection of discrete changes in blood flow that could not be detected with a single technique. Furthermore, it also shows that, under these conditions, the massage improves the lower limb perfusion in both limbs (test and control).

A doença vascular periférica (DVP) compreende muitas entidades patológicas e uma variedade de expressões clínicas, sendo a terceira causa principal da doença cardiovascular. A DVP ainda continua a motivar mais e melhor investigação para compreender as muitas complexidades envolvidas, e desenvolver medidas preventivas e Avanços recentes permitiram o desenvolvimento de um novo sistema FPG que parece melhorar claramente a aplicabilidade desta técnica. Neste estudo, aplicamos e comparamos estas duas técnicas de medição não-invasiva das técnicas. Além disso, também mostram que, nestas condições, a massagem melhora a perfusão do membro inferior em ambos os membros (teste e controlo).

Biomedical and biopharmaceutical research : jornal de investigação biomédica e biofarmacêutica