Systems and methods for quantitative microcirculation state monitoring

1. A method comprising:

acquiring optical image information with a detection unit configured to be operably coupled to a patient, the optical image information corresponding to a microcirculation state of a tissue of the patient;

generating a sequence of microcirculation maps of microvasculature of the patient, at regular time intervals over a collection or monitoring period, using the optical image information;

extracting a plurality of Quantitative parameters from the optical image information, each quantitative parameter representing a property of the microcirculation state of the tissue;

generating a value of a quantitative microcirculation index based on at least one of the sequence of microcirculation maps and a value corresponding to each of the plurality of quantitative parameters, the quantitative microcirculation index corresponding to a static or a dynamic condition of the patient; and

continuously monitoring an existence or an onset or a progress of the condition of the patient using at least one of: a threshold value and a threshold rate, related to the value of the quantitative microcirculation index.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the quantitative microcirculation index corresponds to a percentage of vessels that satisfy at least one size threshold.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the quantitative microcirculation index corresponds to a ratio of a first group of vessels within a first size range to a second group of vessels within a second size range.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the quantitative microcirculation index corresponds to at least one of an amount of change or a rate of change of a vessel size parameter.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing laser energy to a region of interest of the patient, wherein acquiring the optical image information comprises collecting light emitted from the patient exposed to the laser energy, and wherein generating the microcirculation map is performed based on speckle patterns of the collected light.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detection unit comprises a non-invasive patient attachment configured to be attached to the patient, and wherein the optical image information is acquired continuously over a monitoring period.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising acquiring auxiliary imaging information, and, before generating the microcirculation map, performing pre-processing on the optical image information using the auxiliary imaging information.

8. A system comprising:

a detection unit configured to be operably coupled to a patient and to acquire optical image information corresponding to a microcirculation state of a tissue of the patient; and

at least one processing unit configured to be operably coupled to the detection unit, and configured to:

generate a sequence of microcirculation maps of microvasculature of the patient at regular time intervals over a collection or monitoring period using the optical image information;

extract a plurality of quantitative parameters from the optical image information, each quantitative parameter representing a property of the microcirculation state of the tissue;

generate a value of a quantitative microcirculation index based on at least one of the sequence of microcirculation maps and a value corresponding to each of the plurality of quantitative parameters, the quantitative microcirculation index corresponding to a static or a dynamic condition of the patient; and

continuously monitor an existence or an onset or a progress of the condition of the patient using at least one of: a threshold value and a threshold rate, related to the quantitative microcirculation index.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the quantitative microcirculation index corresponds to a percentage of vessels that satisfy at least one size threshold.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the quantitative microcirculation index corresponds to a ratio of a first group of vessels within a first size range to a second group of vessels within a second size range.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the quantitative microcirculation index corresponds to at least one of an amount of change or a rate of change of a vessel size parameter.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the detection unit comprises a laser configured to provide laser energy to a region of interest of the patient and to collect light emitted from the patient exposed to the laser energy, and wherein the at least one processing unit is configured to generate the microcirculation map based on speckle patterns of the collected light.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the detection unit comprises a non-invasive patient attachment configured to be attached to the patient.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the non-invasive attachment comprises an ear-piece configured to be secured to the patient, and wherein the detection unit is configured to acquire the optical image information from a portion of an ear of the patient.

15. The system of claim 8 , wherein the detection unit further comprises an incoherent light source and is configured to acquire auxiliary imaging information using the incoherent light source, and, wherein the at least one processor is configured to, before generating the microcirculation map, perform pre-processing on the optical image information using the auxiliary imaging information.

16. A tangible and non-transitory computer readable medium comprising one or more computer software modules configured to direct one or more processors to:

acquire optical image information via a detection unit configured to be operably coupled to a patient, the optical image information corresponding to A microcirculation state of a tissue of the patient;

generate a sequence of microcirculation maps of microvasculature of the patient at regular time intervals over a collection or monitoring period using the optical image information;

extract a plurality of quantitative parameters from the optical image information, each quantitative parameter representing a property of the microcirculation state of the tissue;

generate a value of a quantitative microcirculation index based on at least one of the sequence of microcirculation maps and a value corresponding to each of the plurality of quantitative parameters, the quantitative microcirculation index corresponding to a static or a dynamic condition of the patient; and

continuously monitor an existence or an onset or a progress of the condition of the patient using at least one of: a threshold value and a threshold rate, related to the quantitative microcirculation index.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the quantitative microcirculation index corresponds to a percentage of vessels that satisfy at least one size threshold.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the quantitative microcirculation index corresponds to a ratio of a first group of vessels within a first size range to a second group of vessels within a second size range.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the quantitative microcirculation index corresponds to at least one of an amount of change or a rate of change of a vessel size parameter.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the computer readable medium is further configured to direct the one or more processors to control provision of laser energy to a region of interest of the patient, acquire information corresponding to light emitted from the patient responsive to the laser energy, and generate the microcirculation map based on speckle patterns of the collected light.