Portable Perfusion Monitor Team for National I-Corps Program

这个基于便携式血液灌流监测仪的i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力在于它有可能进入当前血液灌流监测系统之外的新市场和应用。这可能会产生重大的社会影响，因为与其他可用的系统相比，这项技术的成本较低，将允许进行更常规的血液灌流监测(例如，在预防医学中)，这可能会改善公众健康。此外，这项技术的紧凑性和便携性，以及相关的消除了对独立诊断技术人员的需求，使其在偏远和现场地点的医疗保健应用中的使用具有高度的可行性。由于有潜力接触到新的客户和应用，这项技术可能会通过解决诊断医学中未得到满足的需求而产生颠覆性影响。这个i-Corps项目基于一种便携式血液灌流监测设备。该设备使用激光散斑成像技术，通过将低功率激光反射到组织并进入相机，以非侵入性的方式成像血液流动。通过快速连续地捕捉几个图像并比较这些帧，具有相对运动的区域(在这种情况下是血液流动)可以在视觉上映射到组织的图像上。这种便携式灌注器的智能优点是，它利用了一种处理数据的新方法来比较连续的帧，这种新方法需要的计算能力比现有方法低得多。因此，可以使用微型处理器来代替完整的计算机处理器，从而允许设备的小型化和材料成本的降低。此外，该设备能够在手术期间实时连接到现有的手术设备和功能，缩短手术过程所需的时间，并提高相关数据的及时性和质量。该设备的各种原型已经在小鼠身上进行了测试，结果表明该设备能够提供详细的血液流动图，包括微血管。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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, based on a portable blood perfusion monitor, lies in its likelihood of reaching new markets and applications beyond current blood perfusion monitor systems. This could have a significant societal impact, as this technology's lower cost compared to other available systems will allow for more routine blood perfusion monitoring (e.g. in preventative medicine), which could improve public health. Further, the compactness and portability of this technology, along with its related elimination of the need for a standalone diagnostic technician, makes its use in healthcare applications in remote and field locations highly feasible. Due to the potential to reach new customers and applications, this technology could be disruptive by addressing unmet needs in diagnostic medicine.This I-Corps project is based around a portable blood perfusion monitor device. The device uses laser speckle imaging technology, which images blood flow non-invasively by reflecting low-power laser light off of tissue and into a camera. By capturing several images in rapid succession and comparing the frames, regions with relative motion (in this case, blood flow) can be visually mapped onto an image of the tissue. The intellectual merit of this portable perfusion device is that it utilizes a new method of processing the data to compare the sequential frames, this new method requiring substantially lower computing power than existing methods. As a result, mini-processors can be used in place of full computer processors, allowing for miniaturization of the device and reduction of the material costs. As well, the device is capable of attaching to existing surgical equipment and functions in real time during surgery, shortening time needed for the surgical process and improving timeliness and quality of associated data. Various prototypes of this device have been tested in mice, and the results demonstrate the ability of this device to provide detailed maps of blood flow, including micro-vessels.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.