Eashani Sathialingam
BME PhD Defense Presentation

Date:2022-05-16
Time: 1 - 2 pm
Location / Meeting Link: HSRB E260 and https://emory.zoom.us/j/97745316903?pwd=Umh6VUFqZ3Z6aEFRYldMYm82QWJodz09

Committee Members:
Erin M. Buckley, PhD (Advisor) Wilbur A. Lam, MD, PhD Shella Keilholz, PhD Brandon Dixon, PhD Ofer Sadan, MD, PhD


Title: The Theoretical and Translational Advancement of Diffuse Correlation Spectroscopy Measurements of Blood Flow

Abstract:
Cerebral blood flow is an important biomarker of brain health and function. Compromised blood flow may cause dangerous diseases in the brain such as stroke and subarachnoid hemorrhage. Diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) is an emerging low-cost (<$50k), non-invasive, and portable optical modality that employs near-infrared light to measure an index of microvascular blood flow (BFI, cm2/s). While DCS BFI is proportional to blood flow, the dependence of BFI on red blood cell properties (i.e., flow velocity, vessel size, hematocrit, and morphology) is less understood. Therefore, the first aim of this dissertation focuses on the theoretical advancement of DCS by using a microfluidic tissue-simulating phantom to explore the contribution of flow velocity, vessel size, and hematocrit on healthy and sickle cell blood. Understanding the DCS signal origins will improve the accuracy of DCS and increase the clinical applications of DCS. The second aim of this dissertation demonstrates the clinical utility of DCS measurements of microvascular cerebral perfusion in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage.