SBIR Phase II: Label-free imaging for real-time, intraoperative blood vessel visualization

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种新颖的术中成像技术，以解决在微创手术中无意中切割血管的问题。在接受这些类型的住院手术的患者中，超过17%的患者发生了术中出血事件。当血管受伤时，由于失血导致医院感染的可能性更高，由于采取纠正措施和延长患者的住院时间，每个患者的额外护理成本增加了数千美元。血管损伤的风险还包括肥胖等风险因素，这些因素限制了外科医生观察和导航血管系统的能力。因此，迫切需要实时识别和评估隐藏的血管系统。这项拟议的技术有助于在切割前识别血管。重要的是，该系统将被设计为无缝集成到一套多种应用的手术器械中。从长远来看，该公司将为外科医生提供卓越的成像平台，以实时查看、评估和表征一系列血管(即动脉/静脉、输尿管和胆管)，以改进手术指导和结果。拟议的项目将开发一种使用低成本光学成像传感器和发光二极管(LED)的新型血管检测和可视化平台。这项拟议的技术将实时提供有关血管存在和大小的可视和定量信息，可以补充外科医生的技术。该系统将是简单的，成本效益高，易于使用，并高度准确。传统上，在微创手术中避免血管是通过可视化或昂贵的术中成像来完成的。这项拟议的技术将利用血管的脉动光吸收特性来实时提供关于血管存在和大小的定量信息，以补充外科医生的技术。该项目还将大大增加在信号处理和图像分析领域进行的研究的价值。此外，建议的技术将消除由于一般伪影，特别是运动伪影而造成的数据丢失的风险。所提出的技术将在体外和体内使用猪动物模型进行验证。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to develop a novel, intraoperative imaging technology to address the problem of inadvertent cuts to vasculature during minimally invasive surgeries. More than 17% of patients who undergo these types of in-patient surgeries suffer from an intraoperative bleeding event. When a vessel is injured, there is a higher probability of hospital borne infection due to the loss of blood, and the added cost of care per patient increases by thousands of dollars due to corrective action and extended length of stay for the patient. The risk of vascular injury is compounded by risk factors, such as obesity, which limit the surgeon's ability to visualize and navigate vasculature. Therefore, there is a critical need to identify and assess hidden vasculature in real time. The proposed technology helps identify blood vessel before a cut is made. Importantly, this system will be designed for seamless integration into a suite of surgical instruments for multiple applications. Long term, the company will provide surgeons with the preeminent imaging platform to view, assess, and characterize a range of vessels (i.e. arteries/veins, ureters and bile ducts) in real-time for improved surgical guidance and outcomes. The proposed project will develop a novel blood vessel detection and visualization platform using low-cost optical imaging sensors and light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The proposed technology will provide visual and quantitative information about vessel presence and size in real-time that can supplement a surgeon's technique. This system will be simple, cost-effective, easy to employ, and highly accurate. Traditionally, the avoidance of blood vessels during minimally invasive surgery is accomplished by visualization or costly intraoperative imaging. The proposed technology will use pulsatile light absorption characteristics of blood vessels to provide quantitative information about vessel presence and size in real-time, supplementing a surgeon's technique. This project will also add significant value to the body of research conducted in the areas of signal processing and image analysis. In addition, the proposed technology will remove the risk of data loss due to artifacts in general and motion artifacts in particular. The proposed technology will be validated ex vivo and in vivo using a porcine animal model.