Optical Sensor System for Early Pressure Injury Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for detecting pressure injuries, particularly early-stage pressure injuries and deep-tissue pressure injuries, are often unreliable and invasive, making it difficult to accurately diagnose and classify these conditions, especially in patients with dark skin tones or those with superficial injuries without visible skin color changes.
Innovation Solution
A non-invasive system using optical sensors and machine learning algorithms to analyze intensity and signal distance information from light reflected off the skin, combined with physiological sensor data, to detect and classify subcutaneous tissue injuries by identifying changes in biomarkers such as blood flow, hemoglobin levels, and tissue temperature, providing alerts for potential injuries.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If visual inspection is used for pressure injury detection, then the method is simple and non-invasive, but the detection accuracy is low and subjective
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical/visual inspection system with an optical detection system. Optical sensors emit light into the tissue and detect reflected or transmitted light to measure physiological parameters such as blood flow, oxygen saturation, and tissue temperature. This substitution enables objective, quantitative measurement of tissue health without requiring visual assessment by caregivers.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces optical sensors as an intermediary between the caregiver and the patient's tissue. Instead of directly observing skin color changes, the system uses light interaction with tissue as a mediator to indirectly detect physiological changes. The optical sensors measure light absorption and scattering properties, which serve as intermediaries to infer underlying tissue conditions such as ischemia, inflammation, or necrosis.
2Measurement precision
If biopsy is used for pressure injury detection, then the detection accuracy is high, but the method is invasive and painful
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical biopsy procedure with an optical detection system. Instead of physically removing tissue samples for analysis, the system uses non-contact or minimal-contact optical sensors to measure tissue physiological parameters. This substitution eliminates the need for cutting, stitching, or anesthesia while providing comparable diagnostic information through optical biomarkers.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses light interaction as an intermediary to obtain tissue information without physical intrusion. The optical sensors detect changes in light properties (absorption, scattering, fluorescence) that occur naturally in living tissue. These optical intermediaries provide windows into tissue physiology without requiring physical access to deeper tissue layers, thus avoiding the harm associated with biopsy.
3Ease of operation
If non-blanching test is used for pressure injury detection, then the method is simple to perform, but it relies on subjective caregiver expertise and cannot detect early-stage injuries
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the manual non-blanching test with an automated optical detection system. Instead of relying on caregiver pressure application and visual assessment of skin blanching, the system uses optical sensors to continuously monitor tissue physiological parameters. This substitution automates the detection process, removing subjectivity and enabling detection of physiological changes before they manifest as visible skin color changes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary detection of tissue injury by monitoring physiological parameters such as blood flow, oxygen saturation, and temperature before visible skin changes occur. The optical sensors detect early physiological disturbances in the microcirculation and tissue metabolism, allowing intervention before the injury progresses to visible erythema or ulceration. This preliminary action enables early-stage detection that precedes traditional visual assessment capabilities.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system enables accurate, non-invasive detection and classification of pressure injuries and other skin conditions, improving early-stage detection and differentiation between superficial and deep-tissue injuries, regardless of skin tone, with high accuracy and real-time monitoring capabilities.
Implementation Method 1
receiving, by at least two optical sensors, intensity and signal distance information from light reflected from the tissue
Implementation Method 2
tissue light absorption and tissue light reflection changes during development of a tissue injury
Data Source
AI summary
Device, system and method of non-invasive determination of a tissue injury, including: receiving, by at least two optical sensors, intensity and signal distance information from light reflected from the tissue over at least one point of the patient's skin, wherein the signal distance information is measured between at least one light source and the at least two optical sensors, receiving, by at least one physiological sensor, a physiological characteristic information of the tissue over at least one point of the patient's skin, training a machine learning (ML) algorithm to determine a tissue injury, and applying the ML algorithm on the received intensity and signal distance information and the received physiological characteristic information to determine a subcutaneous tissue injury in which liquids accumulate subcutaneously, in accordance with a calculated change in the received signal, the signal distance information, and the physiological characteristic information.