Oscillography is a rather unknown and at the same time highly underestimated medical procedure among the general population. Oscillography is mostly used for circulatory disorders. Especially volume changes of tissue and the inflow and outflow of blood are in focus here.
What is oscillography?
Oscillography is performed using an oscilloscope, which allows a vascular surgeon to measure and record the increase in leg circumference caused by the pulse in the arteries. Oscillography is commonly understood to be a procedure that measures arterial blood flow to the hands, feet and legs. Oscillography is performed using an oscilloscope, which allows a vascular surgeon to measure and have the oscilloscope record the increase in leg circumference caused by the pulse in the arteries. The resulting recordings are called oscillograms and are characterized by sharply rising and rapidly falling curves. Nowadays, most oscillograms are reproduced digitally rather than in analog form. Unlike other methods of measuring arterial blood flow, oscillography is a non-invasive procedure. This means that the physician does not have to enter the patient’s body, but can perform everything from the outside. Because of this, oscillography is considered a particularly gentle and low-risk procedure for detecting circulatory disorders.
Function, effect, and goals
Oscillography can be performed either on the legs or on the toes and fingers. In this procedure, cuffs are placed on the patient’s fingers and toes or legs and ankles and then inflated. The volume changes in the arteries of the body parts enclosed by the cuffs are then transmitted to the cuffs and from there to the measuring device. For oscillography of the toes and fingers, the patient sits or lies motionless during the measurement. This measurement is used to detect possible circulatory disorders in the tiny arteries of the hands and feet. Since vessels affected by circulatory disorders are often so small that they cannot be reliably detected or visualized using other methods, such as an ultrasound examination, oscillography is particularly helpful here. A modern variant of this measurement is the so-called acral oscillography, in which instead of cuffs that are inflated, the blood flow is measured with the help of light-controlled pulses. Acral oscillography is used, for example, to diagnose Raynaud’s syndrome, in which the fingers and hands of those affected turn white due to circulatory disorders. In leg oscillography, after an initial measurement at rest, the patient lying on his back is additionally asked to do 40 toe stands and 20 knee bends each. After each of these two short physical exercises, a new measurement is then taken and compared with the other two. This comparison allows the physician to verify whether the patient has circulatory disturbances in the legs either only during exercise or also at rest. This procedure is used, among other things, to diagnose Peripheral Arterial Disease. Another, special form of oscillography is so-called functional oscillography, in which the patient must perform certain movements with his arms during the measurements. This is used to detect so-called functional circulatory disorders, i.e. circulatory disorders that only occur during certain movements with the arms, such as crossing the arms behind the head. However, all these different forms of oscillography only serve the purpose of detecting circulatory disorders or the diseases that cause them. Oscillography, on the other hand, cannot provide therapy for these diseases.
Risks and side effects
As already indicated, oscillography is considered a particularly gentle and low-risk procedure for the detection of circulatory disorders. No notable risks, side effects, or even hazards are known. On the contrary, unlike far more expensive procedures such as a CT or MRI examination, which usually cost several hundred euros, oscillography offers a much less expensive and also more accurate alternative.This is because, unlike these, it provides a very accurate picture of the quality of blood flow to the legs, hands and feet and costs less than 10 euros. CT and MRI, on the other hand, can only provide static images of the vessels. However, despite these numerous, obvious advantages and the low cost, many health insurance companies still refuse to pay for oscillography.
