Early surgical management of those burn injuries that will not heal spontaneously is critical. The decision to excise and graft is based on a visual assessment that is often inaccurate but yet continues to be the primary means of grading the injury. Superficial and intermediate partial-thickness injuries generally heal with appropriate wound care while deep partial- and full-thickness injuries generally require surgery. This study explores the possibility of using near-infrared spectroscopy to provide an objective and accurate means of distinguishing shallow injuries from deeper burns that require surgery. Twenty burn injuries are studied in five animals, with burns covering <1% of the total body surface area. Carefully controlled superficial, intermediate, and deep partial-thickness injuries as well as full-thickness injuries could be studied with this model. Near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy was used to evaluate these injuries 1 to 3 hours after the insult. A probabilistic model employing partial least-squares logistic regression was used to determine the degree of injury, shallow (superficial or intermediate partial) from deep (deep partial and full thickness), based on the reflectance spectrum of the wound. A leave-animal-out cross-validation strategy was used to test the predictive ability of a 2–latent variable, partial least-squares logistic regression model to distinguish deep burn injuries from shallow injuries. The model displayed reasonable ranking quality as summarized by the area under the receiver operator characteristics curve, AUC=0.879. Fixing the threshold for the class boundaries at 0.5 probability, the model sensitivity (true positive fraction) to separate deep from shallow burns was 0.90, while model specificity (true negative fraction) was 0.83. Using an acute porcine model of thermal burn injuries, the potential of near-infrared spectroscopy to distinguish between shallow healing burns and deeper burn injuries was demonstrated.
Atherosclerosis is traditionally viewed as a disease of uncontrolled plaque growth leading to arterial occlusion. More
recently, however, occlusion of the arterial lumen is being viewed as an acute event triggered by plaque rupture and
thrombosis. An atheromatous plaque becomes vulnerable to sudden activation and/or rupture when a constellation of
processes are activated by various trigger mechanisms. There is growing evidence that the vulnerability (i.e.
susceptibility to rupture) and thrombogenic nature of the plaque need to be taken into account in the planning and
treatment of the disease. X-ray fluoroscopy and intravascular ultrasound, the current clinical diagnostic tools are not
capable of the providing a complete histological picture of the plaque region.
Intravascular diagnostic imaging of coronary atherosclerotic plaques by optical means to assess plaque, patient risk and
assist in planning treatment strategies represents the future in angioplasty treatment by interventional cardiologists. The
techniques which will enable a clinically acceptable and reliable intravascular diagnostic platform are currently being
investigated and compared to the clinical standard of histology.
Currently, we are investigating the use of a number of optical and imaging techniques for biochemical analysis of
arterial tissue including Raman, near infrared and fluorescence spectroscopies. Biochemical imaging will provide
compositional information on collagen, elastin, lipid and thrombogenic by-products as well as gauging inflammation
and tissue remodeling activity levels. To complement the functional biochemical imaging, optical coherence
tomography will be provide structural morphological imaging. The synergistic combination of functional and structural
imagery will provide the interventional cardiologist with a complete clinical picture of the atherosclerotic plaque region.
The clinician can use this diagnostic information to plan a personalized treatment procedure based on the entire clinical
presentation.
The process of taking a concept to a clinical device begins with the idea for a technological solution to an unmet clinical challenge. Burns are one of the most destructive insults to the skin causing damage, scarring, and in some cases death. The approach most commonly used to evaluate burns is based on the appearance of the wound. This technique is somewhat subjective and unreliable, relying on clinical experience to assess the burn. Instrument based diagnostic techniques as an adjunct to current practices has the potential to enhance the quality and timeliness of decisions concerning wound assessment and treatment. Near Infrared Spectroscopy is a promising technique that can track changes within the tissue, and can therefore provide insight as to how deep the burn actually penetrates before visual signs become apparent. Preliminary bench and animal studies were used to prove the concept of a near infrared based method of burn assessment. This study demonstrated the ability of near infrared imaging to detect and monitor the hemodynamics of burn injuries in the early post-burn period. Based on this study, a pre-prototype near infrared spectroscopic system was built with the goal of developing a reliable yet simple system that could be used in a clinical setting. A pilot clinical study was designed and implemented at the Ross Tilley Burn Center (Toronto, Canada) in order to assess the feasibility of our strategy in the clinical realm. The goal of this preliminary clinical study was to determine if the pre-prototype could be integrated into the strict regiment of an active burn centre. Both the instrument performance in a clinical setting and the injury assessment based on the analysis of near infrared reflectance measurements were a success.
Early dental caries detection will facilitate implementation of nonsurgical methods for arresting caries progression and promoting tooth remineralization. We present a method that combines optical coherence tomography (OCT) and Raman spectroscopy to provide morphological information and biochemical specificity for detecting and characterizing incipient carious lesions found in extracted human teeth. OCT imaging of tooth samples demonstrated increased light backscattering intensity at sites of carious lesions as compared to the sound enamel. The observed lesion depth on an OCT image was approximately 290 µm matching those previously documented for incipient caries. Using Raman microspectroscopy and fiber-optic-based Raman spectroscopy to characterize the caries further, spectral changes were observed in PO vibrations arising from hydroxyapatite of mineralized tooth tissue. Examination of various ratios of PO 2, 3, 4 vibrations against the 1 vibration showed consistent increases in carious lesions compared to sound enamel. The changes were attributed to demineralization-induced alterations of enamel crystallite morphology and/or orientation. OCT imaging is useful for screening carious sites and determining lesion depth, with Raman spectroscopy providing biochemical confirmation of caries. The combination has potential for development into a new fiber-optic diagnostic tool enabling dentists to identify early caries lesions with greater sensitivity and specificity.
Early dental caries result from destruction of the tooth's outer mineral matrix by acid-forming bacteria found in dental plaques. Early caries begin as surface disruptions where minerals are leached from the teeth resulting in regions of decreased mineral matrix integrity. Visually, these early carious regions appear as white spots due to the higher backscattering of incident light. With age these areas may become stained by organic compounds. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) examination of human teeth demonstrates a difference in penetration depth of the OCT signal into the carious region in comparison with sound enamel. However, while OCT demonstrates a structural difference in the enamel in the region of the caries, this technique provides little insight into the source of this difference. Raman spectroscopy provides biochemical measures derived from hydroxyapatite within the enamel as well as information on the crystallinity of the enamel matrix. The differences in the biochemical and morphological features of early caries and intact sound enamel are compared. Histological thin sections confirm the observations by OCT morphological imaging while Raman spectroscopy allows for biochemical identification of carious regions by a non-destructive method. Visual examination and conventional radiographic imaging of the intact tooth are used in clinical assessment prior to optical measurements. The combination of OCT, Raman spectroscopy and thin section histology aid in determining the changes that give rise to the visual white spot lesions.
Skin grafts and flaps form the basis of plastic and reconstructive surgery. Transplanted tissue such as a skin graft or free flap can experience a range of perfusion related complications. A number of adjunctive monitoring techniques have been suggested, however, none have met with clinical acceptance. A simple optical spectroscopic method is investigated and is shown to be superior to blood flow based methods for detecting and distinguishing between arterial insufficency and venous congestion in free flaps. The work suggests that this simple method may have clinical utility.
The present and accepted standard for determining the status of tissue relies on visual inspection of the tissue. Based on the surface appearance of the tissue, medical personnel will make an assessment of the tissue and proceed to a course of action or treatment. Visual inspection of tissue is central to many areas of clinical medicine, and remains a cornerstone of dermatology, reconstructive plastic surgery, and in the management of chronic wounds, and burn injuries. Near infrared spectroscopic imaging holds the promise of being able to monitor the dynamics of tissue physiology in real-time and detect pathology in living tissue. The continuous measurement of metabolic, physiological, or structural changes in tissue is of primary concern in many clinical and biomedical domains. A near infrared hyperspectral imaging system was constructed for the assessment of burn injuries and skin flaps or skin grafts. This device merged basic science with engineering and integrated manufacturing to develop a device suitable to detect ischemic tissue. This device has the potential of providing measures of tissue physiology, oxygen delivery and tissue hydration during patient screening, in the operating room or during therapy and post-operative/treatment monitoring. Results from a pre-clinical burn injury study will be presented.
A recurrent problem in the assessment of thermal injuries is the ability to accurately identify the depth and extent of injury. Generally, the depth of a burn injury determines and is inversely related to the ability of the skin to restore and regenerate itself. Burns involve damage to the dermis in varying amounts, reducing the dermal blood supply and altering the skin hemodynamics. Near infrared spectroscopic imaging was used to non-invasively assess the changes that occur in the early (1-3 h) post-burn period. The study used an accurate porcine model to investigate the potential of near infrared spectroscopic imaging to accurately distinguish between burns of varying severity. Data analysis was carried out using a two-way and three-way data decompositions techniques to investigate the spectral changes related to burns. Burn injuries drastically alter the physical and optical properties of the tissue. Thermal destruction of cutaneous vasculature disrupts perfusion and oxygen delivery to the affected tissue. The results demonstrated that near infrared spectroscopic imaging might provide a new tool for an objective clinical assessment of burn injuries.
The major objective of the project is to develop a noninvasive method to assess thermal burns. Currently, the diagnosis relies primarily upon visual assessment of the injury by a burn specialist and/or plastic surgeon. The diagnosis is based on the surface appearance of the wound to determine the type or depth of the burn. Near IR spectroscopic measurements of injured tissue provide an objective means of distinguishing between surface and subsurface changes related to the tissue injury. An acute porcine model is employed to investigate the potential of near IR spectroscopy to accurately distinguish between burns of varying severity in the early postburn period. Parallel factor analysis is used to investigate the spectral changes related to burns of varying severity. Burn injuries drastically alter the physical and optical properties of the tissue. Thermal destruction of cutaneous vasculature disrupts perfusion and oxygen delivery to the affected tissue. Tissue blood oxygenation decreases with increased severity of the burn. The result demonstrate that near IR spectroscopy may provide a new tool for objective clinical assessment of burn injuries.
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