I-Corps: Skin autofluorescence imager for rapidly assessing skin wound healing

University Of Arkansas, Fayetteville AR

Investigators

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a quantitative autofluorescence imaging technology to address the need for diagnostic information in skin wound care. Currently, limited diagnostic information can be obtained from skin biopsies of non-healing wounds, and there is a lack of biomarkers and tools to assess healing status. Very few non-invasive imaging modalities are used in wound centers, and there is no device capable of assessing cellular function and evaluating whether wounds are adequately healing in real time. A skin autofluorescence imager capable of identifying regions of active skin wound healing may assist clinicians with their treatment plans, which could reduce the rates of mortality and amputation for the millions of Americans suffering from chronic wounds. The proposed imager relies on contrast sources that are intrinsic to all cells and tissues and may have other applications as well, such as skin cancer and aging. This I-Corps project is based on the development of advanced imaging and analysis techniques to assess metabolic dysfunction based on cellular autofluorescence. Prior work has primarily focused on aging and wound healing applications and provided key insights for extracting relevant biochemical and structural information from autofluorescence images using multiphoton microscopy. Spectral isolation of cellular autofluorescence can allow for predictions of whether epithelial cells are quiescent, proliferative, or migrating along the edge of a skin wound. An autofluorescence imager that is faster and far less expensive than multiphoton microscopy has been developed with hyperspectral capabilities. Currently, both chronic wounds diagnosis and treatment plan evaluation are performed through visual inspection and wound size measurements acquired over a period of several weeks. This standard of care does not involve the use of any diagnostic technologies that can assess whether the wound is actively closing in real-time. The proposed technology may distinguish changes in the concentrations of multiple naturally fluorescence molecules in cells and tissues that will be used to predict and map locations where skin wounds are actively healing or stuck in a proliferative/inflammatory state. Established image processing techniques can be combined with the device to automatically classify skin wound status and discriminate different wound features. The proposed device will be designed as a point-of-care imaging device for wound centers. 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.