Non-Radiological Imaging Devices for Combat Casualty Care Associated with Burn

Accurate assessment of burn size, depth and the compromise of normal tissue physiology, as well as the tracking of wound response, is essential for successful treatment of burns and one of the major problems that face clinicians and surgeons. The primary method of burn wound assessment is subjective clinical evaluation which is neither accurate nor consistent between care givers. For this proposed effort, Modulated Imaging Inc. will evaluate our clinically deployable advanced camera system to perform burn depth analysis. This non-contact, wide field-of-view approach will ultimately provide quantitative determination of the optical absorption and scattering properties of burned skin as a function of depth and provide quantitative, color-coded maps of tissue physiology including tissue blood volume, oxy-/deoxyhemoglobin and water concentration. These data products should provide the clinician with a real-time, accurate assessment of burn depth and tissue viability. Under this proposed Phase I effort, MI will document the requirements of a burn analysis system for practical use, perform theoretical modeling of the optical properties of layered tissues, conduct imaging analysis on tissue-simulating optical phantoms, and perform testing on burned ex-vivo porcine skin.