Use of thigh pressure cuffs to modulate simulated microgravity-induced changes in the skin measured with high-resolution B-scan ultrasound

• Published in: European journal of ultrasound Vol. 13; no. 3; pp. 215 - 226
• Main Authors: Diridollou, S, Maillet, A, Pavy-Le Traon, A, Louisy, F, Black, D, Berson, M, Grégoire, J.M, Gall, Y, Arbeille, P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shannon Elsevier Ireland Ltd 01.07.2001; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Bed Rest; Biological and medical sciences; Body Water; Edema - diagnostic imaging; Fluid shift; Forehead; Humans; Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects); Male; Medical sciences; Microgravity; Miscellaneous. Technology; Oedema; Pressure; Skin; Skin - anatomy & histology; Skin - diagnostic imaging; Thigh; Thigh cuffs; Tibia; Transport. Aerospace. Diving. Altitude; Traumas. Diseases due to physical agents; Ultrasonic investigative techniques; Ultrasonography - methods; Ultrasound scanning; Weightlessness Simulation; Skin; Fluid shift; Ultrasound scanning; Microgravity; Oedema; Thigh cuffs; Sonography; Evaluation; Edema; Astronaut; Volunteer; Case control study; Experimental study; Thickness; Measurement technique; Hydrostatic pressure; Echography; Orthostatism; Face; Medical application
• ISSN: 0929-8266
• DOI: 10.1016/S0929-8266(01)00135-5

Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the fluid shift in a simulated microgravity experiment and to test the use of thigh cuffs to help alleviate the problem. Methods: The change in skin thickness was assessed by a 20 MHz B-scan ultrasound device. This was performed on eight volunteers who underwent two successive 7-day periods of −6° anti-orthostatic bed-rest, with or without the daytime use of thigh cuffs. The thigh cuffs were used to counteract the development of facial oedema. Results: In the control group (without thigh cuffs), the results showed a steady increase in skin thickness of the combined dermis and hypodermis of the forehead and a reduction of the thickness of this tissue on the tibia. For the countermeasure group, although thigh cuffs were only employed during the daytime — being removed at night — their use reduced the amplitude and kinetics of the fluid shift, resulting in greater beneficial effects at the end of the day than early in the morning. Conclusion: These results of objective measurements of skin made using a non-invasive high frequency ultrasonography method confirm reports by cosmonauts of a reduction in facial oedema and a more ‘comfortable’ adaptation to microgravity by the use of thigh cuffs during space flight. This system is potentially promising for investigating fluid shifts in the skin and may prove useful in the evaluation of some oedematous skin diseases, as well as their therapy.