Transcutaneous Laser Doppler Measurement of Mucus Clearance

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9704180YamashiroMucus elimination is a major problem faced by patients with lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis. Development of effective therapies and assist devices for enhancing mucus removal is greatly hindered by the lack of a reliable non-invasive method of measuring mucus clearance in the airways. Currently, drug doses, assist devices, and physical therapy strategies cannot be optimized for a particular patient due to the lack of this capability. The situation is analogous to trying to treat hypertension without periodic blood pressure measurements. A non-invasive transcutaneous (through the skin) laser doppler method is proposed where a low power laser beam is directed into the airway in the neck region to measure the velocity of the moving mucus layer. Signal processing techniques will be developed to discriminate mucus layer reflections from those from skin and tissue. Initial evaluation will be made using a mechanical model of mucus flow and tissue perfusion.***