Pressure ulcers affect 1-3 million American adults. Prolonged pressure results in poor peripheral circulation and tissue hypoxia, and may cause significant tissue damage. As one of the adjunctive therapies, electrical stimulation (ES) is less labor intensive with lower costs compared to conventional therapies for ulcer treatment. However, ES parameters are often selected arbitrarily and treatment outcomes are evaluated by visible estimates of tissue mass and/or wound volume changes rather than intrinsic hemodynamic changes in ulcerous tissues. Early detection of pressure ulcers is the key for effective ulcer management and for reducing subsequent treatment costs. Since pressure ulcers usually originate from deep tissues attached to the bone (e.g., gluteal muscles surrounding the sacrum), measurement of deep tissue hemodynamics is essential for early diagnosis of ulcers and for optimization of ES treatment. However, no easy methods exist yet that are able to detect the early stages of ulcer development in deep tissues. A new advanced technology, near- infrared diffuse optics, can noninvasively monitor blood flow and oxygenation in deep tissues (up to several centimeters) with fiber-optic probes that gently contact the skin surface, and has recently been demonstrated in our preliminary studies. However, measurements of tissue hemodynamics using contact probes are not appropriate for ulcerous tissues that are prone to infection. This proposed project is to develop and validate a novel non-contact diffuse optical system (Aim 1) for early hemodynamic assessment of ulcer development in deep tissues. This non-contact system will completely avoid tissue deformation and potential infections induced by probe-tissue contact. This study will also integrate the non-contact system with an ES stimulator for treatment and therapeutic monitoring of pressure ulcers. After the integrated non-contact system is validated in healthy muscles and ES treatment parameters are optimized to maximize tissue hemodynamic responses to ES (Aim 2), the non-contact optical system will be used to detect blood flow and tissue oxygenation in gluteal muscles surrounding the sacrum in patients with or without pressure ulcers (stages I-IV) before, during and after ES treatments over 4 weeks (Aim 3). It is expected that measurement of deep tissue hemodynamics that affect tissue damage/healing will provide unique value for the early diagnosis of ulcer development, the objective optimization of ES parameters, and the longitudinal evaluation of ES treatment effects. Our long-term goal is to conduct extensive studies on statistically significant populations from multiple rehabilitation centers to translate and commercialize this innovative integrated system for the effective clinical management of pressure ulcers. Given the health burden of long-term care for pressure ulcers, this translational technology project has the potential to significantly advance our understanding of pressure ulcer development and treatment, ultimately leading to significant improvements in human health and substantial cost savings.

Public Health Relevance

Early detection of pressure ulcers is the key for effective ulcer management and for reducing subsequent treatment costs. Measurement of deep tissue hemodynamics that affect tissue damage/healing is essential for the early diagnosis of ulcers and for the optimization of treatment (e.g., electrical stimulation (ES)) since pressure ulcers usually originate from deep tissues attached to the bone. The objective of this study is to develop and validate a novel non-contact near-infrared diffuse optical system, which will allow us to probe blood flow and oxygenation in deep tissues during ES without touching vulnerable/ulcerous tissue surfaces.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)
Type
Exploratory/Developmental Grants (R21)
Project #
1R21AR062356-01
Application #
8226911
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-BMIT-J (01))
Program Officer
Tseng, Hung H
Project Start
2012-02-15
Project End
2014-01-31
Budget Start
2012-02-15
Budget End
2013-01-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$194,080
Indirect Cost
$59,080
Name
University of Kentucky
Department
Biomedical Engineering
Type
Other Domestic Higher Education
DUNS #
939017877
City
Lexington
State
KY
Country
United States
Zip Code
40506
Mazdeyasna, Siavash; Huang, Chong; Zhao, Mingjun et al. (2018) Noncontact speckle contrast diffuse correlation tomography of blood flow distributions in tissues with arbitrary geometries. J Biomed Opt 23:1-9
Huang, Chong; Irwin, Daniel; Zhao, Mingjun et al. (2017) Noncontact 3-D Speckle Contrast Diffuse Correlation Tomography of Tissue Blood Flow Distribution. IEEE Trans Med Imaging 36:2068-2076
Shang, Yu; Li, Ting; Yu, Guoqiang (2017) Clinical applications of near-infrared diffuse correlation spectroscopy and tomography for tissue blood flow monitoring and imaging. Physiol Meas 38:R1-R26
Huang, Chong; Seong, Myeongsu; Morgan, Joshua Paul et al. (2016) Low-cost compact diffuse speckle contrast flowmeter using small laser diode and bare charge-coupled-device. J Biomed Opt 21:80501
Dong, Lixin; Kudrimoti, Mahesh; Irwin, Daniel et al. (2016) Diffuse optical measurements of head and neck tumor hemodynamics for early prediction of chemoradiation therapy outcomes. J Biomed Opt 21:85004
Huang, Chong; Radabaugh, Jeffrey P; Aouad, Rony K et al. (2015) Noncontact diffuse optical assessment of blood flow changes in head and neck free tissue transfer flaps. J Biomed Opt 20:075008
Huang, Chong; Irwin, Daniel; Lin, Yu et al. (2015) Speckle contrast diffuse correlation tomography of complex turbid medium flow. Med Phys 42:4000-6
Huang, Chong; Lin, Yu; He, Lian et al. (2015) Alignment of sources and detectors on breast surface for noncontact diffuse correlation tomography of breast tumors. Appl Opt 54:8808-16
He, Lian; Lin, Yu; Huang, Chong et al. (2015) Noncontact diffuse correlation tomography of human breast tumor. J Biomed Opt 20:86003
Cheng, Ran; Shang, Yu; Wang, Siqi et al. (2014) Near-infrared diffuse optical monitoring of cerebral blood flow and oxygenation for the prediction of vasovagal syncope. J Biomed Opt 19:17001

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