Microcirculation Clinic

​of Central Kentucky

GlycoCheck allows you to see your own microvessels and blood flow in real time.

A small video microscope is placed beneath the tongue, where it captures moving red blood cells traveling through tiny blood vessels. Specialized software then analyzes aspects of your microcirculation, including capillary density, red blood cell movement and measurements related to the endothelial glycocalyx.

The entire process is non-invasive and takes only minutes.

WHAT IS THE GLYCOCALYX — AND WHY SHOULD I CARE ABOUT MINE?

WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH TELL US?

Researchers have studied the endothelial glycocalyx in aging, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, inflammation, sepsis and other conditions.

Dr. Mark DeBrincat
Vice President of Business Development & Education
Glycocalyx Research Institute

Explore peer-reviewed research on PubMed, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's biomedical literature database.

Dr. Hans Vink
Inventor of GlycoCheck
Researcher in endothelial glycocalyx and microcirculation

                       The ENDOTHELIAL GLYCOCALYX is a delicate, gel-like protective layer                                   that lines the inner surface of our blood vessels.

Made largely of complex sugars and proteins, it creates an important interface between circulating blood and the endothelial cells that form the vessel wall.

Although microscopic, the glycocalyx plays an important role in vascular health. It helps regulate blood flow and vascular permeability, responds to the forces created by flowing blood, and helps control interactions between blood cells and the vessel wall.

When the glycocalyx becomes thinned or damaged, this protective interface can become less effective, contributing to inflammation, altered vascular permeability, and microvascular dysfunction.

For many years, this fragile structure was extraordinarily difficult to study.

Today, new technology allows us to learn about the glycocalyx by observing the microcirculation in a living person—in real time.