Publications Repository - Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf

We introduce a new method to noninvasively and continuously measure the swelling process of the nasal mucosa. Thereby we use light of different wavelengths in the near infrared range which is transilluminated through the nasal tissue and whose extinction is recorded as a function of time. From the temporal and spectral extinction data we are able to extract characteristic parameters that describe the swelling process quantitatively by means of a regression type parameter estimation algorithm. Furthermore, we show the capability of the method to quantify hemoglobin saturation in the surplus blood volume and introduce a bilateral measurement approach that allows us to examine the swelling process in both nasal cavities simultaneously. The method has been applied to the nasal allergen provocation test and verified on a limited number of volunteers.