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Results for “Plethysmography”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1983

Transducers for ultrasonic limb plethysmography

The design, construction, and performance characteristics of ultasonic transducers suitable for limb plethysmography are presented. Both 3-mm-diameter flat-plate and 12-mm-diameter hemispheric ceramic transducers operating at 2 MHz were fitted in 1-mm thick epoxy-resin lens/acoustic-coupling structures and mounted in exercie-EKG electrode housings for placement on the calf using adhesive collars. The effects of transducer directional characteristics on performance under off-axis rotation and the electrical impedances of the transducers were measured: The flat transducer was found to be sensitive to rotation and have an impedance of 800 ohms; the hemispheric transducer, to be unaffected by rotation and have an impedance of 80 ohms. The use of hemispheric transducers as both transmitter and receiver, or of a flat transducer as transmitter and a hemispheric transducer as receiver, was found to produce adequate dimensional measurements, with minimum care in transducer placement, in short-term physiological experiments and long-term (up to 7-day) attachment tests.

Nickell, W. T.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Use of impedance plethysmography to continually monitor bone marrow blood flow

An impedance-plethysmographic technique is described which can be used to quantify temporal bone-marrow blood-flow changes. Results obtained with the impedance technique compare favorably with the data from simultaneously administered microspheres. Injection of sympathomimetic drugs produced measurable responses: isoproterenol caused a significant increase in bone-marrow blood flow within 1 min, and levarterenol decreased bone-marrow blood flow. Data obtained with impedance plethysmography suggest that the technique is feasible for multiple measurements on the same animal and that the technique can be used to study acute or chronic changes in bone-marrow blood flow following various experimental treatments.

Montgomery, L. D.↗
NASA NTRS1977

An electrode system for tetrapolar electrical impedance plethysmography of the finger

A rigid band electrode system is described which facilitates location of the recording electrodes of a tetrapolar impedance plethysmograph used for measuring pulsations of blood in a finger segment. The electrodes can be relocated accurately, and the volume of the finger segment under study can be precisely defined. The new system ensures good electrical contact and minimizes movement artifacts in the plethysmograph trace by holding the finger segment in a firm position.

Montgomery, L. D.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Multi-Segment Hemodynamic and Volume Assessment With Impedance Plethysmography: Aerospace Applications

Definition of multi-segmental circulatory and volume changes in the human body provides an understanding of the physiologic responses to various aerospace conditions. We have developed instrumentation and testing procedures at NASA Ames Research Center that may be useful in biomedical research and clinical diagnosis. Specialized two, four, and six channel impedance systems will be described that have been used to measure calf, thigh, thoracic, arm, and cerebral hemodynamic and volume changes during various experimental investigations.

Ku, Yu-Tsuan E.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Cardiovascular responses of men and women to lower body negative pressure

Changes in blood flow and blood redistribution were measured by impedance plethysmography in the pelvic and leg regions of six male and four female subjects during three 5-min exposures to -20, -40, and -60 mm Hg lower body negative pressure (LBNP). Female subjects demonstrated significantly higher mean heart rate and lower leg blood flow indices than the male subjects during the recumbent control periods. Men had slightly higher mean resting systolic and diastolic blood pressures and higher mean control pelvic blood indices. Women demonstrated significantly less blood pooling in the legs and slightly less in the pelvic region than the men. All of the 18 tests with male subjects at -60 mm Hg were completed without initial signs of syncope, while only two of the tests with women were completed successfully without the subject exhibiting presyncopal conditions. Results indicate that impedance plethysmography can be used to measure segmental cardiovascular responses during LBNP and that females may be less tolerant to -60 mm Hg LBNP than males.

Montgomery, L. D.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Techniques for measurement of thoracoabdominal asynchrony

Respiratory motion measured by respiratory inductance plethysmography often deviates from the sinusoidal pattern assumed in the traditional Lissajous figure (loop) analysis used to determine thoraco-abdominal asynchrony, or phase angle phi. We investigated six different time-domain methods of measuring phi, using simulated data with sinusoidal and triangular waveforms, phase shifts of 0-135 degrees, and 10% noise. The techniques were then used on data from 11 lightly anesthetized rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta; 7.6 +/- 0.8 kg; 5.7 +/- 0.5 years old), instrumented with a respiratory inductive plethysmograph, and subjected to increasing levels of inspiratory resistive loading ranging from 5-1,000 cmH(2)O. L(-1). sec(-1).The best results were obtained from cross-correlation and maximum linear correlation, with errors less than approximately 5 degrees from the actual phase angle in the simulated data. The worst performance was produced by the loop analysis, which in some cases was in error by more than 30 degrees. Compared to correlation, other analysis techniques performed at an intermediate level. Maximum linear correlation and cross-correlation produced similar results on the data collected from monkeys (SD of the difference, 4.1 degrees ) but all other techniques had a high SD of the difference compared to the correlation techniques.We conclude that phase angles are best measured using cross-correlation or maximum linear correlation, techniques that are independent of waveform shape, and robust in the presence of noise. Copyright 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRS1975

Forearm blood flow during body temperature transients produced by leg exercise

Subjects exercised for 30 min on a bicycle ergometer at 30, 50, and 70% of maximal aerobic power in ambient temperatures of 15, 25, and 35 C and vapor pressures of less than 18 torr. Exercise was used to vary internal temperature during an experiment, and different ambient temperatures were used to vary skin temperatures independently of internal temperature. Forearm skin temperature was fixed at about 36.5 C. Esophageal temperature was measured with a thermocouple at the level of the left atrium, and mean skin temperature was calculated from a weighted mean of thermocouple temperatures at eight skin sites. Forearm blood flow was measured by electrocapacitance plethysmography. Data are well accounted for by a linear equation independent of exercise intensity, although some subjects showed an equivocal vasodilator effect of exercise.

Wenger, C. B.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Thermoregulatory control of finger blood flow

In the present experiment, exercise was used to vary internal temperature and ambient air heat control was used to vary skin temperature. Finger temperature was fixed at about 35.7 C. Esophageal temperature was measured with a thermocouple at the level of the left atrium, and mean skin temperature was calculated from a weighted mean of thermocouple temperatures at different skin sites. Finger blood flow was measured by electrocapacitance plethysmography. An equation in these quantities is given which accounts for the data garnered.

Wenger, C. B.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Variation of forearm, hand, and finger blood flow indices with ambient temperature

Forearm, hand, and finger blood flow (impedance) changes are measured by impedance rheography on seven healthy male subjects aged 20-35 yr during exposure to ambient temperatures ranging from 10 to 46 C. All observations are made in an environmental chamber at a dew point temperature of 13 + or - 0.25 C. It is shown that impedance rheography is suitable for quantifying peripheral circulatory responses to thermal stress. The measured blood flow indices are found to be consistent with previously reported values for the forearm, hand, and fingers obtained using air or water displacement plethysmography. In particular, the more distal body segments exhibit relatively larger vasomotor responses to changes in ambient temperature than do the more proximal body segments.

Montgomery, L. D.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Biomagnetic instrumentation and measurement

The instruments and techniques of biomagnetic measurement have progressed greatly in the past 15 years and are now of a quality appropriate to clinical applications. The paper reports on recent developments in the design and application of SQUID (Superconducting Quantum Interference Device) magnetometers to biomagnetic measurement. The discussion covers biomagnetic field levels, magnetocardiography, magnetic susceptibility plethysmography, ambient noise and sensor types, principles of operation of a SQUID magnetometer, and laboratory techniques. Of the many promising applications of noninvasive biomagnetic measurement, magnetocardiography is the most advanced and the most likely to find clinical application in the near future.

Iufer, E. J.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Joint Soviet-American experiment on hypokinesia: Experimental results

Comprehensive results are reported from the Soviet portion of a joint Soviet-American experiment involving hypokinesia. The main emphases are on chemical analyses of blood and urine, functional tests, and examination of the cardiovascular system by electrocardiography, echocardiography, and plethysmography.

Burovskiy, N. N.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Thermoregulatory responses of rats to varying environmental temperatures

The peripheral (tail) circulatory responses of six male albino rats were measured at ambient temperatures between 5 and 40 C, using impedance plethysmography. Each animal was anesthetized, instrumented, and placed in a thermal environmental chamber to reach equilibrium. Tail blood flow, respiration rate, heart rate, core temperature, and tail skin temperature were then monitored at each ambient temperature. The mean tail blood flow was significantly higher (p less than 0.05) at 5 C than at 10 C. The mean blood flow increased significantly (p less than 0.01) at each of the temperatures above 10 C. Tail skin temperature and internal body (core) temperature increased significantly with increasing ambient temperature.

Berry, J. J.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Orthostatic intolerance during a 13-day bed rest does not result from increased leg compliance

Increased leg compliance (LC) has been proposed as a mechanism for orthostatic intolerance after spaceflight or bed rest. Using venous occlusion plethysmography with mercury-in-Silastic strain gauge, we evaluated LC before, during, and after a 13-day head-down bed rest in 10 men. LC was measured by the relationship between the increased calf areas at thigh cuff occlusions of 20, 30, 50, 70, and 80 mmHg. Orthostatic tolerance was evaluated by a presyncopal-limited lower body negative pressure test before and after bed rest. The 10 subjects were divided into TOL (n= 5) and INT (n=5) groups for which the orthostatic tolerance was similar and lower after bed rest, respectively. For TOL (INT) before bed rest, calf area increases were 2.2 +/- 0.5 (SE) (1.3 +/- 0.4), 3.5 +/- 0.7 (2.3 +/- 0.5), 5.0 +/- 0.9 (3.5 +/- 0.6), 5.6 +/- 0.9 (4.4 +/- 0.6), and 6.4 +/- 1.1 (4.7 +/- 0.6) sq cm for thigh occlusion pressures of 20, 30, 50, 70, and 80 mmHg, respectively. Neither for INT nor for TOL were these results significantly changed by bed rest. These results suggest that other mechanisms than increased LC have to be taken into account to explain the decreased orthostatic tolerance induced by this 13-day bed rest.

Melchior, Francois M.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Calf venous compliance measured with head-up tilt equals supine calf compliance

Elevated calf compliance may contribute to orthostatic intolerance following space flight and bed rest. Calf venous compliance is measured conventionally with venous occlusion plethysmography in supine subjects. With this well-established technique, subjects undergo inflation of a pressure cuff around the thigh just above the knee, which increases calf venous pressure. A plethysmograph simultaneously measures calf volume elevation. Compliance equals calf volume elevation per mm Hg thigh occlusion (calf venous) pressure in relaxed legs of the supine subjects. Compliance may also be measured during stepwise head-up tilt (HUT) as calf volume elevation per mm Hg gravitational venous pressure elevation produced by HUT. However, during HUT on a tilt table with a footplate, calf muscles activate to counteract gravity: this is an obvious and natural response to gravitational force. Such muscle activation conceivably could reduce calf compliance, yet relatively little calf muscle activation occurs during HUT and orthostasis (less than 10% of maximal voluntary levels; 4, 8, 10). Also, this activation produces minimal calf volume change (less than 0.3%; 3). Therefore, we hypothesized that calf compliance measured with HUT equals that measured with supine venous occlusion.

Watenpaugh, D. E.↗