Supplementary Material for: Laser Doppler Fluximetry in Cutaneous Vasculature: Methods for Data Analyses

Introduction: Acquisition of a deeper understanding of microvascular function across physiological and pathological conditions can be complicated by poor accessibility of the vascular networks and the necessary sophistication or intrusiveness of the equipment needed to acquire meaningful data. Laser Doppler fluximetry (LDF) provides a mechanism wherein investigators can readily acquire large amounts of data with minor inconvenience for the subject. However, beyond fairly basic analyses of erythrocyte perfusion (fluximetry) data within the cutaneous microcirculation (i.e., perfusion at rest and following imposed challenges), a deeper understanding of microvascular perfusion requires a more sophisticated approach that can be challenging for many investigators. Methods: This manuscript provides investigators with clear guidance for data acquisition from human subjects for full analysis of fluximetry data, including levels of perfusion, single- and multiscale Lempel-Ziv complexity (LZC) and sample entropy (SampEn), and wavelet-based analyses for the major physiological components of the signal. Representative data and responses are presented from a recruited cohort of healthy volunteers, and computer codes for full data analysis (MATLAB) are provided to facilitate efforts by interested investigators. Conclusion: It is anticipated that these materials can reduce the challenge to investigators integrating these approaches into their research programs and facilitate translational research in cardiovascular science.

引言：在生理和病理条件下，对微血管功能的深入了解可能因血管网络的难以接近以及获取有意义数据所需设备的复杂性和侵入性而变得复杂。激光多普勒血流仪（LDF）提供了一种机制，使研究者能够轻松获取大量数据，同时给受试者带来的不便最小。然而，除了对皮肤微循环中红细胞灌注（血流仪）数据的相对基本分析（即在休息状态下和面对施加的挑战后的灌注）之外，对微血管灌注的深入了解需要更为复杂的方法，这对许多研究者来说可能颇具挑战性。方法：本文为研究者提供了从人类受试者获取血流仪数据进行全面分析的具体指导，包括灌注水平、单尺度及多尺度莱姆尔-齐夫复杂度（LZC）和样本熵（SampEn），以及基于小波分析的主要生理信号成分。展示了从招募的健康志愿者群体中收集的代表数据和响应，并为全面数据分析（MATLAB）提供了计算机代码，以便利有兴趣的研究者。结论：预期这些材料能够降低研究者将这些方法整合到其研究计划中的挑战，并促进心血管科学转化研究。