Identifying the appropriate measurement environment for laser speckle flowmetry of cerebral blood flow in rats.

Laser speckle flowmetry (LSF) is a noninvasive tool for cerebral blood flow (CBF) measurement via a cranial bone window. LSF is influenced by various factors including the extent of removal of bone and dura mater and tissue wetness in the bone window. In this study, we aimed to characterize the effect of these conditions on LSF signals and identify optimal measurement conditions for CBF LSF measurements in rats.

Improving accuracy of cerebral blood flow measurements in laser speckle flowmetry.

Laser speckle flowmetry (LSF) can measure moving red blood cells in real time as changes in tissue blood flow; however, LSF values may not be sufficiently reproducible due to body movements and other factors. Therefore, it is difficult to compare absolute values of LSF directly. This study aimed to verify the influence of head fixation on improving the measurement accuracy and enabling the comparison of LSF values semi-quantitatively using an external standard.