I-Corps: Tissue Kinematics Quantification

Texas Tech University, Lubbock TX

Investigators

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is clinicians being able to evaluate therapy impact implemented on individual patients by quantifying real-time tissue kinematics response to a procedure. While tools that objectify therapeutic intervention outcomes are desirable, they are not often available, where the procedure's results are usually unknown until it is too late to redirect the outcomes. Such a delay could exacerbate a patient's symptoms, requiring additional interventions or diagnostic tests, increasing costs and professional liabilities. This innovation greatly improves the possibility of objectifying therapy outcomes or planned interventions to ensure success on performed treatments. As an example, this innovation can quantify uterine C-section scar tissue integrity, allowing Obstetricians and Gynecologists to reduce risk during births that involve women with previous C-section history. Additional promising applications include, more precise speech language pathology diagnosis and physical therapy treatment validation. This I-Corps project is based on an innovative method that measures displacement and strain in tissue and body fluid for determining the accuracy and objectivity of clinical tests and the effectiveness of treatment procedures. The novel method developed, processes an image time series obtained using typical diagnostic tools, such as ultrasound, MRI, or CT scan imaging, to quantify target tissue displacement and strain. Contemporary methods, such as Tissue Doppler Imaging, require cross-sectional plane imaging, restricting strain measurements to a single component. The method developed here identifies functions without the necessity for natural markers and yields all components of the strain tensor field at a much finer resolution. Further, repeatability of this novel method's function has been assessed by conducting multiple in vitro and in vivo experiments. The method's versatility has been demonstrated by quantifying kinematics for variety of biological tissues, such as median and sciatic nerves, surrounding muscle, and subcutaneous tissue.