Alexander Doronin

Combined use of laser Doppler flowmetry and skin thermometry for functional diagnostics of intradermal finger vessels

We introduce a noninvasive diagnostic approach for functional monitoring of blood microflows in capillaries and thermoregulatory vessels within the skin. The measuring system is based on the combined use of laser Doppler flowmetry and skin contact thermometry. The obtained results suggest that monitoring of blood microcirculation during the occlusion, performed in conjunction with the skin temperature measurements in the thermally stabilized medium, has a great potential for quantitative assessment of angiospatic dysfunctions of the peripheral blood vessels. The indices of blood flow reserve and temperature response were measured and used as the primarily parameters of the functional diagnostics of the peripheral vessels of skin. Utilizing these parameters, a simple phenomenological model has been suggested to identify patients with angiospastic violations in the vascular system.

Multimodal optical measurement for study of lower limb tissue viability in patients with diabetes mellitus.

According to the International Diabetes Federation, the challenge of early stage diagnosis and treatment effectiveness monitoring in diabetes is currently one of the highest priorities in modern healthcare. The potential of combined measurements of skin fluorescence and blood perfusion by the laser Doppler flowmetry method in diagnostics of low limb diabetes complications was evaluated. Using Monte Carlo probabilistic modeling, the diagnostic volume and depth of the diagnosis were evaluated. The experimental study involved 76 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. These patients were divided into two groups depending on the degree of complications. The control group consisted of 48 healthy volunteers. The local thermal stimulation was selected as a stimulus on the blood microcirculation system. The experimental studies have shown that diabetic patients have elevated values of normalized fluorescence amplitudes, as well as a lower perfusion response to local heating. In the group of people with diabetes with trophic ulcers, these parameters also significantly differ from the control and diabetes only groups. Thus, the intensity of skin fluorescence and level of tissue blood perfusion can act as markers for various degrees of complications from the beginning of diabetes to the formation of trophic ulcers.

Backscattering of linearly polarized light from turbid tissue-like scattering medium with rough surface.

Abstract. In the framework of further development of a unified computational tool for the needs of biomedical optics, we introduce an electric field Monte Carlo (MC) model for simulation of backscattering of coherent linearly polarized light from a turbid tissue-like scattering medium with a rough surface. We consider the laser speckle patterns formation and the role of surface roughness in the depolarization of linearly polarized light backscattered from the medium. The mutual phase shifts due to the photons’ pathlength difference within the medium and due to reflection/refraction on the rough surface of the medium are taken into account. The validation of the model includes the creation of the phantoms of various roughness and optical properties, measurements of co- and cross-polarized components of the backscattered/reflected light, its analysis and extensive computer modeling accelerated by parallel computing on the NVIDIA graphics processing units using compute unified device architecture (CUDA). The analysis of the spatial intensity distribution is based on second-order statistics that shows a strong correlation with the surface roughness, both with the results of modeling and experiment. The results of modeling show a good agreement with the results of experimental measurements on phantoms mimicking human skin. The developed MC approach can be used for the direct simulation of light scattered by the turbid scattering medium with various roughness of the surface.

Impact of blood volume changes within the human skin on the diffuse reflectance measurements in visible and NIR spectral ranges

We consider changes in the volume of blood and oxygen saturation caused by a pulse wave and their influence on the diffuse reflectance spectra in the visible/NIR spectral range. CUDA-based Monte-Carlo model was used for routine simulation of detector depth sensitivity (sampling volume) and skin spectra, and their variations associated with physiological changes in the human skin. The results presented in the form of animated graphs of sampling volume changes for scaling of the parameters of the main human skin layers related to the results of experimental measurements are of particular interest for pulse oximetry, photoplethysmography, Doppler flowmetry, reflectance spectroscopy.

Determination of human skin optical properties from hyper spectral data with deep-learning neural networks (Conference Presentation)

In the current report, we present further developments of a unified Monte Carlo-based computational framework and explore the potential of the emerging deep-learning neural networks for the determination of human skin optical properties. The hyperspectral data is acquired at each pixel as a function of time, by varying the illumination/detection wavelength and polarization of light. Subsequently, the signature of the detected signal within the tissues is estimated by a deep learning algorithm with supervised training based on a Monte Carlo modelling and then fit for the scattering and absorption properties of the tissue. The algorithm provides an estimation of parameters such as distributions of melanin, blood vessels, oxygenation, assessment of hyper vascularization and metabolism which are particularly critical for assessment of darkly and lightly pigmented skin lesions including moles, freckles, vitiligo, etc. The results of simulations are compared with exact analytical solutions, phantom studies and traditional diffuse reflectance spectroscopic point measurements. The computational solution is accelerated by the graphics processing units (GPUs) in a cloud-computing environment providing near-instant access to the results of analysis.

Modeling and interpreting speckle pattern formation in swept-source optical coherence tomography (Conference Presentation)

We report on the development of a unified Monte-Carlo based computational model for exploring speckle pattern formation in swept-source optical coherence tomography (OCT). OCT is a well-established optical imaging modality capable of acquiring cross-sectional images of turbid media, including biological tissues, utilizing back scattered low coherence light. The obtained OCT images include characteristic features known as speckles. Currently, there is a growing interest to the OCT speckle patterns due to their potential application for quantitative analysis of medium’s optical properties. Here we consider the mechanisms of OCT speckle patterns formation for swept-source OCT approaches and introduce further developments of a Monte-Carlo based model for simulation of OCT signals and images. The model takes into account polarization and coherent properties of light, mutual interference of back-scattering waves, and their interference with the reference waves. We present a corresponding detailed description of the algorithm for modeling these light-medium interactions. The developed model is employed for generation of swept-source OCT images, analysis of OCT speckle formation and interpretation of the experimental results. The obtained simulation results are compared with selected analytical solutions and experimental studies utilizing various sizes / concentrations of scattering microspheres.

Physically based radiative transfer framework for hyperspectral modelling of light interaction with volumetrically inhomogeneous scattering tissue-like media (Conference Presentation)

In the current report we present further developments of a unified Monte Carlo-based computational model and explore hyperspectral modelling of light interaction with volumetrically inhomogeneous scattering tissue-like media. The developed framework utilizes voxelized representation of the medium and considers spatial/volumetric variations in both structural e.g. surface roughness and wavelength-dependant optical properties. We present the detailed description of algorithms for modelling of light-medium interactions and schemes used for voxel-to-voxel photon packet transitions. The results of calculation of diffuse reflectance and Bidirectional Scattering-Surface Reflectance Distribution Function (BSSRDF) are presented. The results of simulations are compared with exact analytical solutions, phantom studies and measurements obtained by a low-cost experimental system developed in house for acquiring shape and subsurface scattering properties of objects by means of projection of temporal sequences of binary patterns. The computational solution is accelerated by the graphics processing units (GPUs) and compatible with most standard graphics/ and computer tomography file formats.

Computational model for simulation of sequences of helicity and angular momentum transfer in turbid tissue-like scattering medium (Conference Presentation)

Current report considers development of a unified Monte Carlo (MC) -based computational model for simulation of propagation of Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beams in turbid tissue-like scattering medium. With a primary goal to proof the concept of using complex light for tissue diagnosis we explore propagation of LG beams in comparison with Gaussian beams for both linear and circular polarization. MC simulations of radially and azimuthally polarized LG beams in turbid media have been performed, classic phenomena such as preservation of the orbital angular momentum, optical memory and helicity flip are observed, detailed comparison is presented and discussed.

Impact of blood volume on the diffuse reflectance spectra of human skin measured in visible and NIR spectral ranges

With pulse wave periodic beating taken into account we assess the influence of blood volume and oxygen saturation changes on the measurements of diffuse reflectance spectra of human skin in the visible and NIR spectral range.

Hyperspectral system for Imaging of skin chromophores and blood oxygenation

We developed a compact, fast, hand-held hyperspectral imaging system for 2D neural network-based visualization of skin chromophores and blood oxygenation. Here, we present results of the system tests on healthy volunteers.