This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will lead to methodologies and systems that extract deep tissue physiological images utilizing novel optical illumination and capture technology. The problem addressed is the challenge of effective and timely analysis of deep tissue physiological processes and their corresponding impact upon human health, wound formation and healing. The opportunity is to provide an affordable and accessible means of identifying critical tissue characteristics in a quantitative fashion thus leading to better clinical guidance and more informed care decisions. The research will identify a set of digital illumination conditions, define model-based transfer functions, and then combine these to construct depth resolved physiological image maps. Illumination patterns will be modeled and evaluated representing a variety of combinations of pattern density, symmetry, geometry and coverage cycles. The resulting image maps and use cases will be compared with established clinical metrics for validation. The project shall lead to a definitive means for extracting depth resolved physiological images.
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is to establish affordable and accessible point of use diagnostic tools utilizing a novel non-contact, optical illumination and imaging modality to gain insights into otherwise non-accessible physiological processes. The innovation will enhance the scientific and technological understanding of the inter-relationships between underlying physiology, hemodynamics, diffuse tissue optics, signal processing, clinical understanding and care. Products to be enabled by variable tissue depth physiological imaging include tools for the effective diagnosis and treatment of the millions of Americans that are impacted annually by debilitating skin conditions caused by cancers, burns, pressure sores or skin transfers. At the same time care providers will realize reduced labor costs and liabilities through more effective identification of wounds. The project's technology advances in real-time, non-invasive optical imaging systems will provide particular benefits to elderly and economically disadvantaged patients who would otherwise suffer from reduced access to adequate diagnosis. Resulting products shall provide greater accessibility to all segments of society to better clinical information that can be used to prevent debilitating wounds and enable more effective wound healing.
This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project led to the discovery of methodologies and realization of systems that extract deep tissue physiological images utilizing novel optical illumination and capture technology. The problem addressed is the challenge of effective and timely analysis of deep tissue physiological processes and their corresponding impact upon human health, wound formation and healing. Further development of the technologies is expected to provide an affordable and accessible means of identifying critical tissue characteristics in a quantitative fashion, leading to better clinical guidance and more informed care decisions. The research identified a set of digital illumination conditions (i.e. test conditions), and associated signal processing interpretation parameters, that are combined to construct depth resolved physiological image maps. Illumination patterns were modeled and evaluated for a variety of combinations of pattern density, symmetry, geometry and coverage cycles. The resulting image maps and use cases were compared with established clinical metrics for validation. The project has led to a definitive means for extracting depth resolved physiological images. The broader impact/commercial potential of the research is establishing a platform for affordable and accessible point of use diagnostic tools utilizing the novel non-contact, optical illumination and imaging modality to gain insights into otherwise non-accessible physiological processes. The innovation is enhancing the scientific and technological understanding of the inter-relationships between underlying physiology, hemodynamics, diffuse tissue optics, signal processing, clinical understanding and care. Products being enabled by variable tissue depth physiological imaging include tools for the effective diagnosis and treatment of the millions of Americans that are impacted annually by debilitating skin conditions caused by cancers, burns, pressure sores or skin transfers. At the same time care providers may realize reduced labor costs and liabilities through more effective identification of wounds. The project’s technology has advanced understandings of real-time, non-invasive optical imaging systems of particular benefit to elderly and economically disadvantaged patients who otherwise are suffering from reduced access to adequate diagnosis. Resulting products now under development are expected to provide greater accessibility to all segments of society to better clinical information that can be used to prevent debilitating wounds and enable more effective wound healing.
