Development of Bioelectric Field Imaging Instrumentation

描述（由申请人提供）： 我们已经知道超过世纪，人的皮肤驱动离子电流离开表皮完整性被破坏的区域（DuBois-Reymond，1843，Ann.Phys.U.Chem.58：1）。DuBois-Reymond使用最早的电流计之一来测量在他的皮肤中留下的1 μ A伤口。这已经使用现代技术得到证实，我们现在知道，该电流是通过Na+的顶部-基底转运在表皮上产生的跨上皮电位从伤口中排出的。当伤口电流穿过表皮时，它会产生一个局部电场，从伤口周围的各个方向指向伤口。虽然我们知道伤口电流存在，但我们不知道它们穿过皮肤时产生的局部电场强度。正是这种电场可以通过电泳移动分子或通过趋电性吸引细胞来影响伤口愈合。我们的目标是在体内测量这种伤口。该场已在豚鼠皮肤伤口附近测量，但从未在人类中测量（Barker等人，1982，Am.J.Physiol.242：R358）。我们公司一直在开发一种名为生物电场成像仪（BFI）的新仪器，该仪器将能够非侵入性地测量这些横向场。正如EKG可以通过测量肢体之间的电压来提供有关心脏病的信息一样，BFI技术可以提供有关皮肤病的信息。这将有许多重要的应用，以改善人类健康，包括设计新的电疗法愈合慢性伤口，并可能早期检测和诊断皮肤病，如黑色素瘤和牛皮癣。我们的具体目标是适应一个原型，BFI设备，以非侵入性地测量皮肤表面电位分布在哺乳动物皮肤伤口周围的区域。我们将优化振动幅度、皮肤和探头之间的距离以及信号平均。我们将介绍扫描功能，允许皮肤伤口周围的表面电位分布的二维映射。最后，我们将通过在明确定义的哺乳动物伤口上进行实验室台架测试来确定该器械的再现性。该仪器将允许我们比较正常愈合伤口附近的内源性场与慢性伤口附近的内源性场，以确定是否存在可能通过电疗减少的差异。该技术还具有早期检测和诊断各种皮肤病的潜力，包括黑色素瘤和牛皮癣。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We have known for over a century, that human skin drives ionic current out of regions where the integrity of the epidermis has been breached (DuBois-Reymond, 1843,Ann.Phys.U.Chem.58:1) DuBois-Reymond used one of the earliest galvanometers to measure 1 uA leaving wounds in his skin. This has been confirmed using modern techniques and we now know that this current is driven out of the wound by the transepithelial potential generated across the epidermis by the apical-basal transport of Na+. As this wound current traverses the epidermis it generates a local electric field that points towards the wound from all directions around it. While we know that wound currents exist, we do not know the local electric field strength that they generate as they move through the skin. It is this electric field that can influence wound healing by moving molecules by electrophoresis or attracting cells by galvanotaxis. Our goal is to measure this wound field in vivo. This field has been measured near guinea pig skin wounds but never in humans (Barker et al., 1982,Am.J.Physiol. 242:R358). Our company has been developing a new instrument called the Bioelectric Field Imager (BFI) that will be able to measure these lateral fields non-invasively. Just as the EKG can provide information about heart disease by measuring voltages between the limbs, the BFI technique provides information about skin disease. This will have many important applications to improving human health including the design of new electrical therapies for healing chronic wounds and possibly the early detection and diagnosis of skin diseases such as melanoma and psoriasis. Our Specific Aim is to adapt a prototype, BFI device to non-invasively measure the skin surface potential distribution in the region surrounding mammalian skin wounds. We will optimize vibration amplitude, distance between skin and probe, and signal averaging. We will introduce scanning capabilities that allow the two-dimensional mapping of the surface potential distribution around a skin wound. Finally we will determine the reproducibility of the device by laboratory bench testing on well-defined mammalian wounds. This instrument will allow us to compare the endogenous fields near normally healing wounds with those near chronic wounds in order to determine if there are differences that might be reduced by electrotherapy. This technique also has the potential for early detection and diagnosis of various skin diseases including melanoma and psoriasis.