Short communication: Laser Doppler perfusion imaging: a method for measuring female sexual response

Abstract

To develop a new noninvasive technique to measure vulval blood flow changes during sexual arousal; 18 healthy volunteers between the age of 20 and 33 years were studied. Each subject underwent two experimental sessions at least 2 weeks apart to coincide with the proliferative and luteal phases of her menstrual cycle. An initial laser Doppler perfusion imaging (LDPI) scan of the vulva was performed. The subject was then given a chapter of erotic fiction to read and a repeat LDPI scan was performed immediately after. The percentage change in flux were calculated: the clitoral skin blood flow increased by 26.4% (P < 0.05), labial skin blood flow by 24.9% (P < 0.05) and the posterior fourchette skin blood flow by 35.3% (P < 0.05). LDPI can detect changes in vulval perfusion during the sexual arousal response and could be used to compare healthy subjects with female sexual dysfunction patients, as well as for assessing the benefits of any treatment for this condition.

Physiologic measures of sexual function in women: a review

“…It has also recently been used to measure vulvar blood flow changes during sexual arousal (56). In this study, the LDPI scan was performed before and after reading a chapter of erotic fiction.…”

Devices and Methods to Measure Female Sexual Arousal

“…Research that is interested in change over longer periods of time, or where there might be a confound in measuring response to different stimuli within the same day (e.g., the testing of different biological interventions and their impact on genital response), will have participants come in for multiple testing sessions that are spread over a particular time frame. For studies of female sexual response, longitudinal designs are often used to assess methodological issues such as properties of measurement devices (e.g., [84]), in addition to treatment interventions for clinical issues (e.g., [85]). A limitation with longitudinal designs, however, is that increasing the number of sessions also increases the risk of participant attrition or dropout rates.…”

“…The imager is placed approximately 20 cm from the genitals during scanning, and although the imager can theoretically take numerous measurements over the course of an experiment it does require 2–3 minutes to complete each scan, and participants must remain still during scanning to minimize movement artifacts [84]. LDI has been used in a number of studies examining female sexual response, and the regions of interest that have been scanned include the whole genital area, as well as labia majora, labia minora, and clitoral hood [84,115–117]. Study results demonstrate significant increases in blood flow to all measured areas during sexual arousal.…”

“…Study results demonstrate significant increases in blood flow to all measured areas during sexual arousal. Additionally, the discriminant validity of LDI has been demonstrated with significant increases in blood flow occurring only during exposure to sexually explicit stimuli as compared with humorous, neutral, or anxiety‐provoking films [115], and test–retest reliability was established with a study demonstrating no significant differences in Flux reported over two separate testing sessions in healthy premenopausal women [84]. Finally, an initial study examining a sample of women with provoked vestibulodynia and healthy controls found significant differences in blood flow during sexual arousal for the two groups, suggesting that LDI can be used to examine group differences and has potential to be used in clinical studies [117].…”

Body Imaging and Sexual Behavior in Lean Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

“…Autonomic fibers from the hypogastric plexus and the nerve roots S2-S3 mediate the external genital blood flow. Nerves ending in the genital area produce an arterial vasodilator (vasoactive intestinal peptide) and a venous vasoconstrictor (neuropeptide Y) responsible of clitoral and vulvo-vaginal engorgement [12]. In addition, the neurogenic and endothelial release of nitric oxide (NO), produced by the action of NO synthase on L-arginine, induces a further increase of vasodilatation and tissue engorgement [13].…”