MIS-BI: Multimodal Imaging System with decision-support for Burn Injury assessment

We propose to develop a swift, non-contact imaging-based solution to objectively assess variable depths of injury in burned soldiers while suggesting appropriate standardized treatment plans. Currently, determination of burn depth and healing outcomes has been limited to subjective assessment or a single modality, e.g., laser Doppler imaging. Such measures have proven less than ideal. Recent developments in other non-contact technologies such as ultrasound, optical coherence tomography and pulse speckle imaging offer the promise that an intelligent fusion of information across these modalities can improve visualization of areas within burned skin thereby increasing the sensitivity of the diagnosis. As Phase I deliverables, we propose to i) analyze each of these individual modalities and determine the set of operating parameters that can provide optimum accuracy across a range of partial injury and full thickness burns and their subsequent healing in the pig model, ii) integrate these modalities to visualize the different layers within the skin (with and without burns) and automatically compute the burn depth and iii) develop a decision-support system to classify the burn injury and validate the results through immonuohistochemical analysis. Our solution will be applicable in ambulatory scenarios and burn units for warfighters as well as the civilian population.