| Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) measurements of absolute concentrations of oxy-hemoglobin and deoxy-hemoglobin in the human brain can provide critical information about cerebral physiology in terms of cerebral blood volume, blood flow, oxygen delivery, and metabolic rate of oxygen. We developed several frequency domain NIRS data acquisition and analysis methods aimed at absolute measurements of hemoglobin concentration and saturation in cerebral tissue of adult human subjects.;Extensive experimental investigations were carried out in various homogenous and two-layered tissue-mimicking phantoms, and biological tissues. The advantages and limitations of commonly used homogenous models and inversion strategies were thoroughly investigated. Prior to human subjects, extensive studies were carried out in in vivo animal models. In rabbits, absolute hemoglobin oxygen desaturation was shown to depend strongly on surgically induced testicular torsion. Methods developed in this study were then adapted for measurements in the rat brain. Absolute values were demonstrated to discern cerebrovascular impairment in a rat model of diet-induced vascular cognitive impairment. These results facilitated the development of clinically useful optical measures of cerebrovascular health. In a large group of human subjects, employing a homogeneous model for absolute measurements was shown to be reliable and robust. However, it was also shown to be limited due to the relatively thick extracerebral tissue.;The procedure we develop in this work and the thesis thereof performs a nonlinear inversion procedure with six unknown parameters with no other prior knowledge for the retrieval of the optical coefficients and top layer thickness with high accuracy on two-layered media. Our absolute measurements of cerebral hemoglobin concentration and saturation are based on the discrimination of extracerebral and cerebral tissue layers, and they can enhance the impact of NIRS for cerebral hemodynamics and oxygenation assessment both in the research arena and clinical practice. |
