R01AR077560

Dynamic OCE with Acoustic Micro-Tapping for In Vivo Monitoring of Skin Graft Surgeries - Abstract

The goal of this project is to develop a non-contact, non-invasive clinical tool to characterize, image, and monitor skin grafting procedures using quantitative, volumetric, sub-mm resolved maps of Young's modulus based on Optical Coherence Elastography (OCE). Factors related to or directly defined by skin's elastic properties (such as contractions and shearing forces) are among the most common complications of full thickness skin graft (FTSG) procedures. In addition, the recipient site functions best when its elastic properties are matched by transplanted donor tissue.

With tens of millions of aesthetic procedures performed every year in the USA alone, surgical cosmesis is clearly critical, especially when procedures are performed on the face, neck, or breast. Currently, there are no clinical tools, or even methods, that can quantitatively map skin's Young's modulus and anisotropy in vivo. We propose to map these parameters in skin using a non-contact, fully non-invasive method, with sub-mm spatial resolution and nearly in real time. We hypothesize that quantifying skin elasticity in vivo will enable significant innovation within all areas of plastic surgery, burn surgery, oncologic surgery, and dermatology that modify a patient's tissue quality and elastic properties through medical, radiologic, or surgical intervention.

To achieve our objective, we propose a new non-contact OCE method. Our approach is based on: (I) Acoustic Micro-Tapping (AMT) using ultrasound propagating in air to launch mechanical waves in soft media with the highest efficiency and best resolution among all non-contact wave-excitation methods, (II) state-of-the-art real-time 4-D PHS-OCT imaging to track wave propagation, and (III) reconstruction of volumetric maps of Young's modulus and anisotropy using imaged wavefields in skin analyzed with a transversally isotropic model.

SA1 will focus on refining previously developed analytic and numerical models of mechanical wave propagation in skin considering its layered anisotropic structure and developing algorithms to reconstruct skin's moduli. Then, SA2 will develop a robotized AMT-OCE imaging system for in vivo skin measurements in a clinical environment. We will perform routine measurements of skin elastic moduli in vivo on healthy volunteers to understand normal variability in skin elastic properties in a representative population of normal human subjects to help define the level of expected improvements possible in matching skin elastic properties in FTSG procedures.

SA3 will focus on in vivo monitoring changes in grafted skin elastic properties during grafting procedures in the clinic, including pre-operative mapping of skin's elastic properties in donor and recipient sites and mapping longitudinal changes in fundamental structural and elastic parameters of FTSGs and surrounding tissue over the reconstruction process.

If successful, this project can be the starting point for multiple continuation projects testing whether new methods and clinical protocols can be developed using information from OCE to help select the best donor tissue for grafting and guide post-surgery procedures.

University Of Washington

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF AND MUSCULOSKELETAL AND SKIN DISEASES (NIAMS) MISSION IS TO SUPPORT RESEARCH INTO THE CAUSES, TREATMENT, AND PREVENTION OF ARTHRITIS AND MUSCULOSKELETAL AND SKIN DISEASES, TRAINING OF BASIC AND CLINICAL SCIENTISTS TO CARRY OUT THIS RESEARCH, AND DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION ON RESEARCH PROGRESS IN THESE DISEASES. THE EXTRAMURAL PROGRAM PROMOTES AND SUPPORTS BASIC, TRANSLATIONAL, AND CLINICAL STUDIES OF SYSTEMIC RHEUMATIC AND AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES, SKIN BIOLOGY AND DISEASES, BONE BIOLOGY AND DISEASES, MUSCLE BIOLOGY AND DISEASES, AND JOINT BIOLOGY AND DISEASES AND ORTHOPAEDICS. NIAMS SYSTEMIC RHEUMATIC AND AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES PROGRAMS ADDRESS BASIC, TRANSLATIONAL, AND CLINICAL RESEARCH, INCLUDING CLINICAL TRIALS AND OBSERVATIONAL AND MECHANISTIC STUDIES, FOCUSED ON IMMUNE-MEDIATED ARTHRITIS AND AUTOIMMUNE-RELATED ACUTE AND CHRONIC DISORDERS IN ADULTS AND CHILDREN. NIAMS SKIN BIOLOGY AND DISEASES PROGRAMS SUPPORT BASIC, TRANSLATIONAL, AND CLINICAL RESEARCH IN SKIN, INCLUDING BOTH COMMON AND RARE SKIN DISEASES. THESE PROGRAMS INCLUDE INVESTIGATIONS OF THE BASIC MOLECULAR, CELLULAR, AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY OF SKIN, AS WELL AS STUDIES OF SKIN AS AN IMMUNE, SENSORY, ENDOCRINE, AND METABOLIC ORGAN. NIAMS BONE BIOLOGY AND DISEASES PROGRAMS SUPPORT RESEARCH ON THE CONTROL OF BONE FORMATION, RESORPTION, AND MINERALIZATION AS WELL AS THE EFFECTS OF SIGNALING MOLECULES ON BONE CELLS. THEY SUPPORT CLINICAL STUDIES OF INTERVENTIONS TO PREVENT FRACTURES ASSOCIATED WITH OSTEOPOROSIS AND RESEARCH INTO LESS COMMON BONE DISEASES. NIAMS MUSCLE BIOLOGY AND DISEASES PROGRAMS ENCOURAGE RESEARCH ON MUSCLE DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY, GROWTH, MAINTENANCE, AND HYPERTROPHY, PHYSIOLOGY OF CONTRACTION, STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY OF THE CONTRACTILE APPARATUS, DISEASE MECHANISMS, BIOMARKERS AND OUTCOME MEASURES, AND DEVELOPMENT AND CLINICAL TESTING OF THERAPIES FOR CONDITIONS INCLUDING THE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHIES. NIAMS JOINT BIOLOGY, DISEASES, AND ORTHOPAEDICS PROGRAMS SUPPORT A BROAD SPECTRUM OF RESEARCH CENTERED ON THE INTERPLAY AMONG THE BODY'S MUSCLES, BONES, AND CONNECTIVE TISSUES. THEY ENCOURAGE TISSUE ENGINEERING AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE RESEARCH, MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, IMAGING, AND CLINICAL RESEARCH, AND THE TREATMENT AND PREVENTION OF ORTHOPAEDIC CONDITIONS. NIAMS PARTICIPATES IN THE SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) AND SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAMS. THE SBIR PROGRAM IS INTENDED TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, TO INCREASE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. THE STTR PROGRAM IS INTENDED TO STIMULATE AND FOSTER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.

93.846 - Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Research

National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) [HHS - NIH]

Seattle, Washington 981951016 United States

Single Zip Code

NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) (PA-20-185)

Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 419% from $586,829 to $3,043,548.