Consideration of Laser Speckle Contrast Analysis for Shunt Management

In hemodialysis, normal venipuncture cannot deliver large amounts of blood, so about 90% of patients make an arteriovenous anastomosis called an internal shunt. In addition, since dialysis is performed multiple times a week, frequent puncture and pressure hemostasis are required. As a result, blood vessels are stressed, resulting in stenosis and occlusion. In order to detect and treat such shunt troubles at an early stage, daily shunt management is important. Laser speckle contrast analysis is of interest in the field of visualization of the hemodynamics of living tissues. In this study, the relationship between the flow rate and the contrast value was investigated by a technique for quantifying the amount of change in the dynamic speckle pattern.