Noninvasive assessment of human microvascular function in health and disease using incident dark-field microscopy

Abstract

To our knowledge, this is the first study to comprehensively characterize in vivo sublingual microvascular structure and function (endothelium-dependent and -independent) in healthy patients and those with CVD. Importantly, we used an easy-to-use handheld device that can be easily translated to clinical settings. Our results indicate that baseline microvascular impairments in structure and function can be detected using the CytoCam technology, although reactivity to acetylcholine may be maintained even during disease in the peripheral microcirculation.