Blood provides oxygen and nutrients to the brain, but because blood flow in the brain is different than it is in the rest of the body, accounting for just how this takes place is something that researchers are still working on understanding. However, a team of researchers from the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology recently made a big step forward in this area of study.
The team observed that one method of observing blood flow that has been widely used in the past, called speckle imaging, can give us a lot of information, but is inefficient and imprecise when it comes to blood flow details. That’s why this team has developed a new tool that they are calling optical speckle image velocimetry. This tool allows doctors to create a highly accurate blood flow map in real time, in a non-invasive manner.
The team published their findings in the August issue of the medical journal, Optica.
Understanding blood flow in the brain helps doctors to better understand things like stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, chronic headaches, and more. If this is a technique that can be widely applied, it has a lot of potential for helping treatment of these health issues to be more targeted, more effective, and increase the quality of life that people suffering from these issues will experience. This is a first step and a lot more research is needed here, but advances like this tend to hold a lot of promise for the future. Even if this technique itself doesn’t prove to be effective, it has the potential to motivate further research.
Overall, detecting health problems early on is an effective way to help elderly folk live healthier, happier lives, and it helps them to live this way for longer periods of time. This new measurement system of blood flow within the brain seems like it has the possibility to be another tool designed to help each of our families have a better chance of avoiding health related pitfalls as we age. This new technique, and others that are also still developing, are all geared toward helping people to detect and resolve health problems early on, so that complications are avoided down the road.
Seniors deserve the best care possible, whether that is medical care, like I discussed above, or senior care, to help account for their changing physical and emotional needs as they age. A care team that works for you and your family is important if your older loved ones are going to thrive as they age.
We’d love to help connect you with your team. Give us a call or email us today to start your care search and get pointed in the right direction. Our team of professional caregivers can answer your questions, help you determine exactly what you want to get out of the senior care experience, and we can do it all during a free consultation session–with no obligation to you! Finding the ideal care team can be overwhelming, but our goal is to make it as painless and easy as possible for you.
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