The John and Marcia Price College of Engineering
10 Medical Imaging Using Near-Infrared Waves
Luis Lorenzo Delos Reyes
Faculty Mentor: Rajesh Menon (Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Utah)
Abstract
With the growing demand for more non-invasive based treatments in the medical field paired with the rise of COVID-19 which came with it the widespread adoption of more contactless technologies, the emergence of infrared technologies and therapy might prove beneficial as it not only provides a contactless, non-invasive way of measuring many health biometric information, but it also has the potential of being utilized as a way of providing valuable imaging through its unique properties and wavelength which makes it optimal for some applications. Infrared light is usually utilized in PPG or Photoplethysmogram which can be seen in most hospitals and clinics wherein its main use is to measure blood attributes and blood changes in volume by shining infrared light into a patient’s finger and then observing the changes in the amount of light being detected at the other side of the finger with a light sensor. Infrared waves also find extensive use in Thermal Imaging Cameras which use lenses to focus infrared energy into the sensor and, more recently, in vein finding devices which can help image vein networks to ease the administering of shots and blood extraction proving the great potential that this technology has. The proposed project aims to explore various ways in which infrared use can be expanded into more applications such as utilizing infrared and near-infrared wave imaging on specific vital points to help in diagnosing blood clots and blood clot related viruses and diseases.
Index Terms— Near-Infrared Waves, Raspberry Pi, Image Segmentation, Signal Processing, Vein-Finding, Hemoglobin
I. Introduction
While compared to the other forms of imaging such as ultrasound and X-Rays, infrared might not provide as much detail, or propagate as freely within the body, one area where this technology really stands out is in its accessibility and convenience on top of its potential to image blood flow in veins and arteries. In recent years, there has also been a surge of interest in NIR with some applications even going as far as providing cerebral oxygen saturation data and other cerebral applications [7] but most of these are still relatively new and very costly. Most NIR (Near Infrared) vein finders typically image veins and blood patters for about 10 to 15mm of depth.[2] One of the reasons why NIR proves promising when it comes to its blood related applications comes down to the properties of blood, to be specific, the properties of hemoglobin makes it so that when NIR is directed towards its blood flow, the NIR light is absorbed by the flow of blood, while the tissue surrounding the vein reflects the light back into a sensor wherein some signal processing takes place in order to map out and project where veins are located.[3]
Recent research an