(a) Ultrasonograph of internal jugular central vein and (b) Monte Carlo simulation of photon paths within the tissues surrounding the veins.
Clinicians sometimes gather the evidence of hypovolemic and septic shocks by looking at patient’s central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO2) from blood samples taken from the central internal jugular vein. This procedure is invasive for patients and cumbersome for clinicians. Now researchers at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China are reporting on a new non-invasive optical probe that can measure continuous tissue blood oxygen saturation (StO2) jst over the jugular vein area.
The device consists of two near-infrared detectors and LED illumination that produces light at three different wavelengths. It is placed on the skin just above an internal jugular vein with the help of ultrasound guidance.
The researchers tested the technology on real patients with shock, comparing the readings taken with the near infrared probe against the standard of care ScvO2, demonstrating considerable correlation between the two and pointing to non-invasive blood monitoring for shock as being the way to do it in the future.
Study in Biomedical Optics Express: Bedside monitoring of patients with shock using a portable spatially-resolved near-infrared spectroscopy…
Source: Optical Society…