Abstract-Methods for registering and calibrating in vivo terahertz images of cutaneous burn wounds

Priyamvada Tewari, James Garritano, Neha Bajwa, Shijun Sung, Haochong Huang, Dayong Wang, Warren Grundfest, Daniel B. Ennis, Dan Ruan, Elliott Brown, Erik Dutson, Michael C. Fishbein, and Zachary Taylor

Fig. 1 Burn zones organize as concentric like shells in the depth are hypothesized to appear as projections of the shells on the surface. Skin layers denoted A, B, C and damage zones denoted 1, 2, 3, 4. (a) Cross-sectional view: damage from superficial thickness wounds are limited primarily to the stratum corneum and epidermis, partial thickness burn wounds extend into the epidermis, and full thickness wounds extend into deep dermis. (b) Isometric view providing orientation between (a) and (c). (c) Top down view: The damage zones, and thus variations in surface TWC should present as regions concentric with the center.

https://www.osapublishing.org/boe/abstract.cfm?uri=boe-10-1-322

A method to register THz and visible images of cutaneous burn wounds and to calibrate THz image data is presented. Images of partial and full thickness burn wounds in 9 rats were collected over 435 mins. = 7.25 hours following burn induction. A two-step process was developed to reference the unknown structure of THz imaging contrast to the known structure and the features present in visible images of the injury. This process enabled the demarcation of a wound center for each THz image, independent of THz contrast. Threshold based segmentation enabled the automated identification of air (0% reflectivity), brass (100% reflectivity), and abdomen regions within the registered THz images. Pixel populations, defined by the segmentations, informed unsupervised image calibration and contrast warping for display. The registered images revealed that the largest variation in THz tissue reflectivity occurred superior to the contact region at ~0.13%/min. Conversely the contact region showed demonstrated an ~6.5-fold decrease at ~0.02%/min. Exploration of occlusion effects suggests that window contact may affect the measured edematous response.

© 2018 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement

Abstract-Non-invasive terahertz imaging of tissue water content for flap viability assessment

Non-invasive terahertz imaging of tissue water content for flap viability assessment 

Neha Bajwa, Joshua Au, Reza Jarrahy, Shijun Sung, Michael C. Fishbein, David Riopelle, Daniel B. Ennis, Tara Aghaloo, Maie A. St. John, Warren S. Grundfest, and Zachary D. Taylor
https://www.osapublishing.org/boe/abstract.cfm?uri=boe-8-1-460

Accurate and early prediction of tissue viability is the most significant determinant of tissue flap survival in reconstructive surgery. Perturbation in tissue water content (TWC) is a generic component of the tissue response to such surgeries, and, therefore, may be an important diagnostic target for assessing the extent of flap viability in vivo. We have previously shown that reflective terahertz (THz) imaging, a non-ionizing technique, can generate spatially resolved maps of TWC in superficial soft tissues, such as cornea and wounds, on the order of minutes. Herein, we report the first in vivo pilot study to investigate the utility of reflective THz TWC imaging for early assessment of skin flap viability. We obtained longitudinal visible and reflective THz imagery comparing 3 bipedicled flaps (i.e. survival model) and 3 fully excised flaps (i.e. failure model) in the dorsal skin of rats over a postoperative period of 7 days. While visual differences between both models manifested 48 hr after surgery, statistically significant (p < 0.05, independent t-test) local differences in TWC contrast were evident in THz flap image sets as early as 24 hr. Excised flaps, histologically confirmed as necrotic, demonstrated a significant, yet localized, reduction in TWC in the flap region compared to non-traumatized skin. In contrast, bipedicled flaps, histologically verified as viable, displayed mostly uniform, unperturbed TWC across the flap tissue. These results indicate the practical potential of THz TWC sensing to accurately predict flap failure 24 hours earlier than clinical examination.

© 2016 Optical Society of America