Advances in medical and surgical care of the high-risk neonate have led to increased survival. A significant number of these neonates suffer from neurodevelopmental delays and failure in school. The focus of clinical research has shifted to understanding events contributing to neurological morbidity in these patients. Assessing changes in cerebral oxygenation and regulation of cerebral blood flow (CBF) is important in evaluating the status of the central nervous system. Traditional CBF imaging methods fail for both ethical and logistical reasons. Optical near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is increasingly being used for bedside monitoring of cerebral oxygenation and blood volume in both very low birth weight infants and neonates with congenital heart disease. Although trends in CBF may be inferred from changes in cerebral oxygenation and/or blood volume, NIRS does not allow a direct measure of CBF in these populations. Two relatively new modalities, arterial spin-labeled perfusion magnetic resonance imaging and optical diffuse correlation spectroscopy, provide direct, noninvasive measures of cerebral perfusion suitable for the high-risk neonates. Herein we discuss the instrumentation, applications, and limitations of these noninvasive imaging techniques for measuring and/or monitoring CBF.

Four very low birth weight, very premature infants were monitored during a 12° postural elevation using diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) to measure microvascular cerebral blood flow (CBF) and transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TCD) to measure macrovascular blood flow velocity in the middle cerebral artery. DCS data correlated significantly with peak systolic, end diastolic, and mean velocities measured by TCD (pA =0.036, 0.036, 0.047). Moreover, population averaged TCD and DCS data yielded no significant hemodynamic response to this postural change (p>0.05). We thus demonstrate feasibility of DCS in this population, we show correlation between absolute measures of blood flow from DCS and blood flow velocity from TCD, and we do not detect significant changes in CBF associated with a small postural change (12°) in these patients.

Background

This study assesses the utility of a hybrid optical instrument for noninvasive transcranial monitoring in the neurointensive care unit. The instrument is based on diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) for measurement of cerebral blood flow (CBF), and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for measurement of oxy- and deoxy-hemoglobin concentration. DCS/NIRS measurements of CBF and oxygenation from frontal lobes are compared with concurrent xenon-enhanced computed tomography (XeCT) in patients during induced blood pressure changes and carbon dioxide arterial partial pressure variation.

Methods

Seven neurocritical care patients were included in the study. Relative CBF measured by DCS (rCBFDCS), and changes in oxy-hemoglobin (ΔHbO2), deoxy-hemoglobin (ΔHb), and total hemoglobin concentration (ΔTHC), measured by NIRS, were continuously monitored throughout XeCT during a baseline scan and a scan after intervention. CBF from XeCT regions-of-interest (ROIs) under the optical probes were used to calculate relative XeCT CBF (rCBFXeCT) and were then compared to rCBFDCS. Spearman’s rank coefficients were employed to test for associations between rCBFDCS and rCBFXeCT, as well as between rCBF from both modalities and NIRS parameters.

Results

rCBFDCS and rCBFXeCT showed good correlation (rs = 0.73, P = 0.010) across the patient cohort. Moderate correlations between rCBFDCS and ΔHbO2/ΔTHC were also observed. Both NIRS and DCS distinguished the effects of xenon inhalation on CBF, which varied among the patients.

Conclusions

DCS measurements of CBF and NIRS measurements of tissue blood oxygenation were successfully obtained in neurocritical care patients. The potential for DCS to provide continuous, noninvasive bedside monitoring for the purpose of CBF management and individualized care is demonstrated.