I-Corps: Noninvasive Detection System for Skin Disease

Rowan University, Glassboro NJ

Investigators

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is an innovative, noninvasive method that dramatically speeds up the diagnostic process for a broad spectrum of skin diseases, benefiting primary care physicians, private practice dermatologists, and urgent care centers, as well as the patients. The existing diagnostic methods require sample preparation and tissue removal from skin, potentially causing further damage to the disease area. The proposed method will eliminate the need for invasive sample collection, and allow primary care physicians and dermatologists to diagnose and treat various skin diseases, such as melanoma, non-melanoma skin cancer, and mycosis fungoides at a much earlier stage. Urgent care centers will also benefit from this ultrafast diagnostic technique, by immediately evaluating urgent skin conditions, such as skin burn and inflammatory skin lesions. The proposed approach will also eliminate the potential reluctance in patients - otherwise due to the invasive nature of current skin biopsy process - in seeking timely medical care, and lead to earlier treatment and better prognosis. This I-Corps project develops an ultrafast and noninvasive three-dimensional fluorescence microscopic imaging of live human skin. This is achieved by (1) the design and demonstration of the hardware system that captures microscopic image with structured light illumination, and (2) the innovative algorithm for three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction and image processing to determine potential skin disease. This technology can be applied directly on live human skin without biopsy, which greatly reduces the delay and laboratory cost for biopsy preparation and assisting diagnosis of skin disease at an earlier stage. The high-resolution 3D image provides an accurate measurement of the shape and dimensions of the disease skin. The fluorescence function of the system indicates the distribution of the abnormal metabolites of a skin area. Both of the morphological changes and the distribution of the abnormal metabolites can be used as key parameters to determine the skin disorder at an early stage. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.