Video Rate Blood Flow Imaging for Reconstructive Plastic Surgery

Reconstructive plastic surgery is in the front line for the removal of cancerous tumours of the breast, head, neck and other sites. Reconstructions following tumour removal usually require the replacement of removed tissue with tissue (i.e. skin, fat, muscle, bone) from other body sites to complete the procedure. The transferred tissues rely on an adequate blood supply to avoid complete or partial failure. The Laser Speckle Imaging technique (LSI) is a new and fast way of seeing blood flow in the skin and other tissues enabling surgeons to optimise tissue blood flow during surgery. The new LSI technique scans areas of up to 15cm x 20cm at video frame rates; larger and faster than other techniques. The purpose of this proposal is to examine the feasibility of applying the new technology for reconstructive plastic surgery. This will benefit patients by avoiding the trauma of a failing reconstruction requiring additional surgery and it will therefore reduce NHS costs.