Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography for Monitoring Sublingual Microcirculatory Changes: a Prospective Tool for Investigation of Tissue Hypoperfusion in Critical Care Medicine
Anton A. Plekhanov
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Institute of Experimental Oncology and Biomedical Technologies, Privolzhsky Research Medical University, Nizhny Novgorod, Russian Federation
Paper #9580 received 9 Apr 2026; revised manuscript received 1 May 2026; accepted for publication 4 May 2026; published online 29 Jun 2026.
DOI: 10.18287/JBPE26.12.020401
Abstract
Using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A), we demonstrate the feasibility of monitoring microcirculatory changes in the clinically important sublingual region, which reflects perfusion disturbances in internal organs of critically ill patients. We present the results of OCT-A monitoring of sublingual microcirculation alterations in both animals and humans induced by external stimuli (modeling massive blood loss and administration of a vasodilator drug). Our findings highlight the strong potential of OCT-A for addressing the challenges of early detection of tissue hypoperfusion in patients. We propose a signal intensity analysis for OCT-A images which might be an effective approach to predict multiple organ failure development, thereby enabling monitoring of the effectiveness of ongoing intensive care.
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