Date: June 18, 2019
Source: PLOS
A
wearable non-invasive device based on near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) can be
used to investigate blood volume and oxygenation patterns in freely diving
marine mammals, according to a study publishing June 18 in the open-access
journal PLOS Biology by J. Chris McKnight of the University of St.
Andrews, and colleagues. The results provide new insights into how voluntarily
diving seals distribute blood and manage the oxygen supply to their brains and
blubber, yielding important information about the basic physiological patterns
associated with diving.
In
response to submersion in water, mammals show a suite of cardiovascular
responses such as reduced heart rate and constriction of peripheral blood
vessels. But investigating dive-by-dive blood distribution and oxygenation in
marine mammals has up to now been limited by a lack of non-invasive technology
that can be used in freely diving animals.
The
authors hypothesized that NIRS could address this gap in knowledge by providing
high-resolution relative measures of oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin
within specific tissues, which can in turn be used to estimate changes in blood
volume. In the new study, McKnight and colleagues adapted NIRS technology for
use on freely diving harbor seals to investigate blood volume and oxygenation
patterns specifically in the brain and blubber, using a device that they dub
the PortaSeal.
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