Optics-Based Surgical Debridement Assist Probe System

To address the Army’s need for a surgical debridement assist device, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) developed the new noninvasive noncontact Optics-based Surgical Debridement Assisting Probe (OSAP) system. In Phase I, POC designed the handheld OSAP system and demonstrated--through finite element modeling (FEM) simulations and laboratory testing of a proof-of-concept prototype on a tissue phantom--capability of the OSAP system to detect subsurface foreign objects/debris and differentiate live/viable tissue from dead/devitalized tissue. Simulations confirmed that the OSAP system can detect subsurface debris from sizes 0.5 mm or smaller (detectable at depths up to 3.5 mm below the surface of the wound/tissue) to 2 mm (detectable at depths up to 2 cm) or higher. In laboratory tests, the OSAP system prototype detected debris of different materials (metal, wood, and glass/ceramic) embedded inside a tissue phantom and differentiated dead tissue from live tissue on the palm of a human hand. In Phase II, POC plans to develop an optimized user-friendly fully functional stand-alone OSAP system prototype; conduct extensive testing of the prototype in the laboratory and in an animal model to characterize its sensitivity of detection; explore FDA licensing of the prototype; and plan for post-Phase II productization of the OSAP system.