0651981 TRANSIENT SURFACE TEMPERATURE RESPONSE AS DIAGNOSTIC TOOL IN MEDICINE AND ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS
The surface temperatures of layered systems, such as skin, vary under external heating or cooling depending on the properties and arrangement of subsurface structures and the imposed thermal boundary conditions. Biological systems typically have spatially distributed internal heat sources linked to metabolic activity and blood flow. The goal of the project is to investigate the transient surface temperature response to cooling or heating in order to identify subsurface structures and processes. Prior studies by the investigators suggest that, in cases of practical significance (skin cancers such as melanoma) a correlation between the transient surface temperature signature and the size, shape and location of the subsurface structures (cancerous lesions) can be established. In order to relate transient surface temperature signature to subsurface structures, accurate mathematical models are being developed and verified experimentally. The objective is to develop relatively inexpensive, non-invasive, rapid measurement and diagnostic tools, based on transient infrared surface temperature measurements and interpreted using numerical modeling, for the identification of subsurface structures of practical interest (for example, the diagnosis of melanoma, detection of failure in composite structures, etc.). The research will lead to the development of better models of healthy and cancerous tissues and their response to thermal excitation.
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. Currently, melanoma is the fastest growing malignancy in the US with the lifetime risk being 1 in 68 and the key to survival remains early detection and surgical excision. To date, no effective screening tools have been developed to enhance the early diagnosis of this disease and the criteria for diagnosis remain subjective. The existence of a relatively simple, non-invasive and inexpensive diagnostic tool, such as the one to be investigated in this project, for conditions that are life threatening, including malignant melanoma, would have a wide-ranging impact on people affected by these conditions. The proposed research holds the promise of allowing the identification of cancerous (as opposed to benign growth) without biopsy.
