Patent ID: 6986747

Claim:
A method of measuring the stress or relaxation level of a mammal, comprising the step of: a. measuring the level of oxyhemoglobin and the level of deoxyhemoglobin in the cutaneous blood supply of said mammal prior to exposing said mammal to an acute stressor or relaxor; b. exposing said mammal to said acute stressor or relaxor; c. measuring the level of oxyhemoglobin and the level of deoxyhemoglobin in the cutaneous blood supply of said mammal during or after said exposing step; and d. for step a and step c, calculating and comparing at least one ratio selected from the group consisting of: i. the ratio of the level of deoxyhemoglobin to the level of oxyhemoglobin of said mammal; and ii. the ratio of the level of deoxyhemoglobin to the sum of the level of deoxyhemoglobin and the level of oxyhemoglobin of said mammal.