LAUSR

Introduction The treatment of vascular diseases incurs tremendous cost to healthcare systems. Current approaches focus largely on managing symptoms. In the last decade, substantial evidence has linked vascular diseases with a dysfunctional response to hypoxia. A distinguishable reaction to hypoxia can be identified from macroand microvessels. Based on this effect, we have developed a new, non-invasive diagnostic technique called Flow Mediated Skin Fluorescence (FMSF) to be used for assessment of vascular circulation and metabolic regulation. The FMSF technique has been successfully used for non-invasive diagnostics of many vascular diseases, including CVD, PAD, diabetes, and hypertension. The FMSF technique has also attracted a considerable interest among sports physiologists. One conclusion from our studies using the FMSF technique is that diagnostics of vascular circulation should focus not only on dysfunctional blood flow in major arteries, but also on microcirculatory responses to hypoxia. In this communication, we present two key parameters derived from FMSF measurements: Reactive Hyperemia Response (RHR) and Hypoxia Sensitivity [log(HS)]. These parameters can be used for efficient characterization of vascular circulation based on the response to transient ischemia.