Dual-mode quantitative imaging of wound tissue oxygenation and perfusion

Accurate assessment of wound oxygenation and perfusion is important for evaluating wound healing/regression and guiding following therapeutic processes. However, many existing techniques and clinical practices are subjective and qualitative due to background bias, tissue heterogeneity, and inter-patient variation. To overcome these limitations, we developed a dual-modal imaging system for in vivo, non-invasive, real-time quantitative assessment of wound tissue oxygenation and perfusion. The imaging system integrated a broadband light source, a high-resolution CCD camera, a highly sensitive thermal camera, and a liquid crystal tunable filter. A user-friendly interface was developed to control all the components systematically. Advanced algorithms were explored for reliable reconstruction of tissue oxygenation and appropriate co-registration between thermal images and multispectral images. Dual-mode oxygenation and perfusion imaging was demonstrated on both benchtop models and human subjects, and compared with measurements using other methods, such as Laser Doppler and tissue oximeter. The test results suggested that the dual-modal imaging system has the potential for non-contact real-time imaging of wound tissue oxygenation and perfusion.