Thermal-energy dissipation: a laboratory study to assess patency in blood vessels.

Surgeons involved in the repair of small blood vessels could benefit from a postoperative monitoring system that would allow vessel-patency determination. These experiments have confirmed that thermal-energy dissipation, measured electrically by direct vascular thermocouple application, is a sensitive and accurate indicator of regional arterial perfusion. Occlusion of arteries 1 to 2 mm in diameter produced a significant temperature decrease in direct artery measurements in the rat and island-flap artery assessments in rats and rabbits. Early recognition of vessel occlusion could allow for rapid intervention and increase the likelihood of tissue salvage. While this technology need not replace existing methodology, it does alleviate many of the problems seen with other vessel- and tissue-monitoring methods and thus may deserve further investigation.