Mark Wefers Bettink

Chapter 3 54 administration the restoration of blood flow and velocity, mitoPO 2 returned to baseline in approximately 15 minutes. Fig.5 A Flow in arbitrary flow units (FU) and arbitrary velocity in velocity units (VU) of microcirculation as measured with probe 2 (P2S) O2C. B Capillary venous saturation (SO2) as measured by O2C and mitochondrial partial oxygen pressure (mitoPO 2 ) as measured by the COMET. 4. Discussion The COMET measurement system is the successor of the first clinical prototype previously described in this journal [17]. This new clinical monitor is safe to be used, easy to transport and applicable for in vivo measurement of mitochondrial oxygen tension and consumption in the human skin. The sternal skin is an easy accessible and non-invasive measurement location. The clinical significance of measuring in the skin arises from the fact that, like the gut, the skin can be regarded as a canary of the body [27]. The idea is that cutaneous mitochondrial PO 2 changes foretell changes in other vital organs and systemic parameters. Indeed, in an animal model mitoPO 2 appeared an earlier indicator of approaching the limit of physiological compensation during hemodilution than e.g. venous saturation and lactate [27, 28]. The “canary” function of human skin in relation