Tissue Oxygenation Sensor and an Active In Vitro Phantom for Sensor Validation

A free flap is a tissue reconstruction procedure where healthy tissue is harvested to cover up vital structures after wound debridement. Microvascular anastomoses are carried out to join the arteries and veins of the flap with recipient vessels near the target site. Continuous monitoring is required to identify the flap failure and enable early intervention to salvage the flap. Although there are medical instruments that can assist surgeons in monitoring flap viability, high upfront costs and time-consuming data interpretation have hindered the use of such technologies in practice. Surgeons still rely largely on the clinical examination to monitor flaps after operations. This paper presents a low-cost, low-power (6.6 mW), and miniaturized Hamlyn StO
₂
(tissue oxygen saturation) sensor that can be embodied as a plaster and attached to a flap for real-time monitoring. Similar to the design of oxygen saturation (SpO
₂
/SaO
₂
) sensors, the Hamlyn StO
₂
sensor was designed based on photoplethysmography (PPG), but with a different target of quantifying tissue perfusion rather than capturing pulsatile flow. To understand the spectral response to oxygenation/deoxygenation and vascular flow, an active in vitro silicone phantom was developed. The new sensor was validated using the silicone phantom and compared with a commercially available photospectroscopy and laser Doppler machine (O2C, LEA, Germany). In addition, in vivo experiments were conducted using a brachial pressure cuff forearm ischemia model. The experiment results have shown a high correlation between the proposed sensor and the O2C machine (r = 0.672 and p <; 0.001), demonstrating the potential value of the of the proposed low-cost sensor in post-operative free flap monitoring.