The predictive value of infrared thermal imaging (IRT) for peripheral artery disease: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Medical infrared thermal imaging (IRT) has been applied to research blood flow, breast cancer detection, and human body muscle performance. The benefits of IRT include the fact that it is noninvasive, quick, dependable, non-contact, capable of creating several recordings in a short period of time, and secure for both patients and medical professionals. We aimed to determine the predictive value of IRT for identifying and evaluating any interventional procedure in patients affected by peripheral artery disease (PAD) of any severity. METHODS: We searched the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and PubMed on the topic of IRT and PAD until January 20,2023. We excluded gray literature as it is lacking credibility for not undergoing a peer-reviewed process. The search strategy includes the medical topic headings for "infrared thermal imaging" and "peripheral vascular disorders." The primary outcome of this systematic review was the variation in tissue perfusion in PAD patients. Each technique's technical characteristics and therapeutic use within PAD must be described in each included study. RESULTS: This systematic review included 2 case reports and 3 observational studies. By comparing the temperatures of PAD patients hands, legs, and feet, IRT might prove to be an unduly valuable tool for treating vascular illnesses, especially in light of the knowledge gained from the temperature distribution maps. CONCLUSION: This noninvasive method demonstrated encouraging results in the detection of various areas of foot perfusion and the screening of PAD, and it gave good findings in gauging the effects of any type of intervention.

Submillimeter Diameter Poly(Vinyl Alcohol) Vascular Graft Patency in Rabbit Model.

Microvascular surgery is becoming a prevalent surgical practice. Replantation, hand reconstruction, orthopedic, and free tissue transfer procedures all rely on microvascular surgery for the repair of venous and arterial defects at the millimeter and submillimeter levels. Often, a vascular graft is required for the procedure as a means to bridge the gap between native arteries. While autologous vessels are desired for their bioactivity and non-thrombogenicity, the tedious harvest process, lack of availability, and caliber or mechanical mismatch contribute to graft failure. Thus, there is a need for an off-the-shelf artificial vascular graft that has low thrombogenic properties and mechanical properties matching those of submillimeter vessels. Poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogel (PVA) has excellent prospects as a vascular graft due to its bioinertness, low thrombogenicity, high water content, and tunable mechanical properties. Here, we fabricated PVA grafts with submillimeter diameter and mechanical properties that closely approximated those of the rabbit femoral artery. In vitro platelet adhesion and microparticle release assay verified the low thrombogenicity of PVA. A stringent proof-of-concept in vivo test was performed by implanting PVA grafts in rabbit femoral artery with multilevel arterial occlusion. Laser Doppler measurements indicated the improved perfusion of the distal limb after implantation with PVA grafts. Moreover, ultrasound Doppler and angiography verified that the submillimeter diameter PVA vascular grafts remained patent for 2 weeks without the aid of anticoagulant or antithrombotics. Endothelial cells were observed in the luminal surface of one patent PVA graft. The advantageous non-thrombogenic and tunable mechanical properties of PVA that are retained even in the submillimeter diameter dimensions support the application of this biomaterial for vascular replacement in microvascular surgery.