Abstract

Multispectral imaging (MSI) devices are optical diagnostic tools that can be used for the non-invasive monitoring and characterization of various kinds of pathologies, including skin conditions such as wounds and ulcers, due to the capability of such technology to track alterations of structural and physiological parameters (e.g., oxygenation and haemodynamics) from changes in the optical properties of the investigated tissue across a large number of spectral bands. In this work, a novel, compact and transportable MSI device based on spectral scanning and diffuse reflectance imaging is going to be presented. The apparatus is composed of light emitting diodes (LEDs) as light sources and a CMOS camera, making it a very compact, manageable, user-friendly, and cost-effective system. The wavelengths of the LED sources, that are located in the visible-NIR portion of the spectrum, have been specifically selected to target and monitor alterations of oxygenation and haemodynamics that can provide biomarkers of monitoring wound healing in chronic ulcers. The calibration of the MSI system is going to be illustrated, discussing the calibration procedure and results obtained with (1) Monte Carlo-based, digital phantoms and (2) liquid optical phantoms. Both types of phantoms mimic the properties of biological tissues and allow to introduce variations in a controlled manner. The proposed MSI system is also going to be tested on patients affected by chronic skin ulcers in order to assess its efficacy and accuracy.

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