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Oxygen saturation of skin reflects blood flow and stagnation

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Abstract

Skin is the largest organ of human body which can easily be observed non-invasively, but objective assessment of skin status is difficult. Therefore, we have focused on the oxygen saturation, and proposed the iterative optical path-length matrix method (OPLM) for estimating oxygen saturation of skin. Oxygen saturation of skin may help finding pre-disease state. In Kampo medicine (Japanese traditional herbal medicine), inspection of skin and tongue is one of the principal methods for diagnosis of the state. Kampo medicine contains a number of concepts which are useful for preventive medicine. The Oketsu status is a pathological concept in Kampo medicine, primarily denoting blood stasis/stagnation. In this study, we focused on oxygen saturation of skin as an objective index of skin properties, and studied correlation with the blood flow and the Oketsu score. First, we acquired Oketsu score of the patients, and measured oxygen saturation, hemoglobin concentration and blood flow of the patients at two locations: fingertip of the right first finger and dorsal surface of the right hand. Then, correlation among the values was calculated. As the result, the oxygen saturation showed large correlation with the blood flow and the Oketsu score at dorsal surface of hand. The oxygen saturation of skin will reflect systemic blood flow and Oketsu status, and it would help objective diagnosis by measuring skin color spectrum.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Kampo Medicine, School of Medicine, Keio University, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku, Tokyo, 160-8582, Japan

    Satoshi Yamamoto

  2. Graduate School of Advanced Integration Science, Chiba University, 1-33 Yayoi-cho, Inage-ku, Chiba, 263-8522, Japan

    Norimichi Tsumura

  3. Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa University, 13-1 Takaramachi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, 920-8641, Japan

    Tomokazu Yoshizaki

  4. Clinic of Japanese–Oriental (Kampo) Medicine, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Kanazawa University Hospital, 13-1 Takaramachi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, 920-8640, Japan

    Keiko Ogawa-Ochiai

Authors
  1. Satoshi Yamamoto
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  2. Norimichi Tsumura
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  3. Tomokazu Yoshizaki
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  4. Keiko Ogawa-Ochiai
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Satoshi Yamamoto.

Additional information

This work was presented in part at the 19th International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Beppu, Oita, January 22–24, 2014.

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Yamamoto, S., Tsumura, N., Yoshizaki, T. et al. Oxygen saturation of skin reflects blood flow and stagnation. Artif Life Robotics 19, 170–175 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10015-014-0154-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10015-014-0154-0

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