I-Corps: Point-of-Care Skin Cancer Imaging Device

该I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力包括开发一种成像系统，该系统解决了当前对非侵入性成像方法的临床需求，该方法可以以高分辨率对皮肤进行深度成像，同时提供恶性组织和正常组织之间的大的组织病理学对比。这将为皮肤科医生提供宝贵的帮助，以提高肿瘤检测的准确性。该设备的目标市场将是全球皮肤病诊断设备市场，预计到2025年将达到53亿美元的价值。在诊所从事皮肤病学的医疗专业人员，成熟的设备制造商和产品分销商是这个市场的主要利益相关者。拟议的系统将最终集成在一个单一的框架，从而在一个紧凑的（手持）和实时成像设备在非常低的制造成本。通过在早期诊断肿瘤，拟议中的设备将节省大量的时间，精力和病人的不适，并提供显着的成本降低为个人病人和国家？该I-Corps项目调查了基于“合成超宽带毫米波成像”方法开发的新型皮肤癌成像设备的潜在商业市场。在这种方法中，一个超宽的成像带宽在毫米波政权，不能实现任何传统的设计方法是综合组装，从而显着提高所获得的图像的分辨率。这种方法有望使毫米波成像技术应用于皮肤成像和皮肤癌检测。通过概念验证实验，该技术已被证明是有效的。首先，在正常皮肤和两种最常见的皮肤癌（基底细胞癌和鳞状细胞癌）的毫米波介电特性之间已经观察到统计学上显著的对比。这些结果验证了所提出的系统提供基于组织病理学对比的皮肤病变评价的潜力。此外，采用所提出的成像方法检测皮肤癌的可行性已被证实使用逼真的皮肤模仿幻影包含球形肿瘤模型。最终开发的产品将是一个手持的即时毫米波成像设备，与最先进的技术相比，它提供了更高的图像分辨率。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project includes the development of an imaging system which addresses the current clinical need for a non-invasive imaging methodology that could image the skin over its depth with high resolutions while offering large histopathological contrasts between malignant and normal tissues. This will provide invaluable assistance to dermatologists with respect to improving tumor detection accuracies. The target market for this device would be the global dermatology diagnostic devices market which is expected to reach a value of USD 5.3 billion by the year 2025. Medical professionals who practice dermatology in clinics, established equipment manufacturers, and product distributors are the main stakeholders of this market. The proposed system will be ultimately integrated in a single framework, resulting in a compact (handheld) and real-time imaging device at very low manufacturing costs. By diagnosing tumors at an early stage, the proposed device will save tremendous amounts of time, effort, and patient discomfort and provide significant cost reductions for both the individual patient and the nation?s healthcare system.This I-Corps project investigates potential commercial markets for a new skin cancer imaging device developed based on the "Synthetic Ultra-Wideband Millimeter-wave Imaging" approach. In this approach, an ultra-wide imaging bandwidth in the millimeter-wave regime that cannot be realized by any conventional design method is assembled synthetically, resulting in significant improvements in the resolution of the acquired images. This approach is expected to enable the millimeter-wave imaging technology to be applied to skin imaging and skin cancer detection. The proposed technology has proven to be effective through proof-of-concept experiments. Firstly, statistically significant contrasts have been observed between the millimeter-wave dielectric properties of normal skin and two of the most common types of skin cancer, basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. These results verify the potential of the proposed system to provide histopathological-contrast-based evaluations of skin lesions. Furthermore, the feasibility of employing the proposed imaging method for skin cancer detection has been confirmed using realistic skin-mimicking phantoms containing spherical tumor models. The final developed product will be a hand-held, point-of-care millimeter-wave imaging device which provides significantly higher image resolutions compared to the state-of-the-art technology.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.