Spatial Frequency Domain Imaging for Characterising the Wound Healing Process

Postoperative surgical wound infection is a serious global problem and a non-contact and early diagnosis method is urgently required. In this thesis, we explore the use of spatial frequency domain imaging (SFDI) as a non-contact optical imaging method for characterising surgical wound healing and detecting early infection. Firstly, a numerical model is built up for analyse the vertical heterogeneity in biological tissue using the Monte Carlo method. The lateral resolution of SFDI is determined related to the wound width, the reduced scattering and the spatial frequency used. Then, we set up a practical SFDI system and conduct resin phantom experiments to validate the result of the simulation. Finally, we have three clinical interesting cases: SLS triggered acute skin irritation, chronic eczema and biopsy wound monitored by our SFDI system for the first time. SFDI is found to have great potential in characterising the wound area after surgery.