Rapid vs. delayed infrared responses after ischemia reveal recruitment of different vascular beds

Continuous infrared imaging revealed transient changes in forearm temperature during arterial occlusion, reperfusion, and recovery in a healthy subject group. Processing the imaging data with the k-means algorithm further revealed reactive vascular sites in the skin with rapid or delayed temperature amplification. The observed temporal and spatial diversity of blood-flow-derived forearm temperature allow consideration of thermal-imaging guided placement of skin sensors to achieve enhanced sensitivity in monitoring of skin hemodynamics.