Blood Vessel Visualization Method in Human Skin Based on Video Recording of Blood Flow Using a Laparoscope

The possibility of increasing the reliability of early diagnoses of diseases associated with a lesion of the capillary network morphology in human skin is considered. A method for visualizing the capillary network of blood vessels in the studied area of the skin is proposed. This method includes a probe optical-electronic system of an original design. A prototype of a probe optical-electronic video capillaroscopy (VCS) system, measurement technique, and data processing methods have been developed to study the parameters of the capillary network. A method that calculates the capillary map in the studied area, based on the analysis of the recorded sequence of video frames of the capillary blood flow is described. The effectiveness of the method is confirmed experimentally by examining the capillary network in the forearm, hands, and nail bed.