Microvascular Dynamics in the Nailfolds of Scleroderma Patients Studied Using Na-Fluorescein dye

Dynamic microscopy of the nailfold capillaries using Na- fluorescein dye can be used to assess the condition of the peripheral circulation of Scleroderma patients, yielding more information than simple morphological studies. In this paper we describe a computer based system for this kind of study and present preliminary results on Scleroderma patients. We show how the dye concentrations vary both in time and as a function of distance from the capillary wall in unprecedented resolution, suggesting that a simple permeability model may be applicable to the data.