Spectral images, which contain more color information than is obtainable with a typical camera, reveal characteristics of tissue and other biological samples that can’t be seen by the naked eye. A new smartphone-compatible device that is held like a pencil could make it practical to acquire spectral images of everyday objects and may eventually be used for point-of-care medical diagnosis in remote locations.
Potential applications of the new device include detecting oxygen saturation in a person’s blood, determining the freshness of meat in the grocery store and identifying fruit that is the perfect ripeness. The spectrometer could also make it easier to acquire spectral data in the field for scientific studies.
In The Optical Society (OSA) journal Biomedical Optics Express, the researchers describe how to make the new pencil-like spectrometer and demonstrate its ability to acquire spectral images of bananas, pork and a person’s hand. The new device can detect wavelengths from 400 to 676 nanometers at 186 spots simultaneously.
“The easiest way to use a spectrometer is to wave it over the part of the body or object being examined,” said first author Fuhong Cai, Hainan University, China. “However, many home-made portable spectrometers use a smartphone camera to acquire data and a phone cradle that contains other necessary optics. The cradle can be hard to align correctly and makes it awkward to wave the smartphone over the body.”
Rather than using a smartphone camera to acquire images, the new spectrometer uses a commercially available complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) camera that wirelessly transmits images to a smartphone. This approach allowed the researchers to assemble a cylindrical spectral imaging device weighing just 140 grams (about 5 ounces) that is about the length of smartphone and just over 3 centimeters in diameter.
Using off-the-shelf components
The new pencil-like spectrometer uses all commercially-available components that can be purchased for less than $300 (US). The light source is an array of white LEDs, which connects to an off-the-shelf optical lens tube with the CMOS detector and other optical components necessary for spectral imaging.
One can use the pencil-like spectrometer simply by moving it across the target area by hand. This manual push-broom scanning process builds up a series of spectral images that are sent to a smartphone or computer where software stitches the spectral images together into a 3D spectral image data cube.
The researchers tested the spectrometer by using it to detect banana ripeness and levels of myoglobin — the iron-containing protein that gives meat its color—in a piece of pork. They also used it to scan a person’s hand, obtaining a 16-second video containing 200 spectral images. From the 3D spectral images, the researchers could distinguish five fingers and the palm and saw differences in hemoglobin distribution in various parts of the hand.
The researchers are also interested in using their compact imaging spectrometer for environmental monitoring. “We’re developing distributed spectral cameras that could be used for a wide range of ocean surveys, such as detecting dissolved organic matter in water or pigments that indicate early signs of harmful algal blooms,” said Cai. “Since the imaging spectrometer can connect to any type of camera, we are also examining the idea of attaching it to the camera of an autonomous vehicle to create a remote ocean sensing system.”
Optimizing the system
Although using commercially-available components to make the prototype means that anyone can assemble the device, it also places some limits on resolution and sensitivity. For example, the prototype can only resolve wavelengths that differ by at least 17 nanometers.
“We expect significant spectral resolution improvements in the future by using an improved camera with a long focal length lens,” said Dan Wang, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, China, a member of the research team. “These improvements would expand the applications for the device.”
The researchers also plan to develop software to make the spectral imager even more useful. “We want to develop ways to use machine learning algorithms to analyze the massive amounts of data that could be collected with the portable spectra imager,” said Sailing He, Zhejiang University, China, a member of the research team. “We also want to create software for smartphones that uses spectral imaging data to measure meat freshness, for example.”
Learn more: Wireless Handheld Spectrometer Transmits Data to Smartphone
The Latest on: Remote medical diagnostics
[google_news title=”” keyword=”remote medical diagnostics” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]- Delhi AIIMS, Indian Coast Guard holds medical camp in Lakshadweepon May 1, 2024 at 2:00 am
Lakshadweep: Indian Coast Guard (ICG) in collaboration with AIIMS New Delhi and support of the Union Territory (UT) administration conducted a medical camp from 29th to 30th April 2024 in ...
- Hospitals grapple with radiologist shortageon April 29, 2024 at 7:50 am
There are over 1,400 vacant radiologist positions posted on the American College of Radiology's job board, according to a bulletin posted on its website. The total number of active radiology and ...
- How Telemedicine Technologies Are Used In Emergency Scenarios, Including Remote Diagnostics And Consultationson April 29, 2024 at 2:38 am
Introduction: In recent years, telemedicine has transformed from a futuristic concept into a critical component of modern healthcare, especially in emergency medical services. The ability to deliver ...
- Medical Electronic Market Poised to Surge, Projected at US$ 14,960.9 Million by 2033 with 6.8% CAGR Expectedon April 28, 2024 at 8:21 pm
The medical electronic market is poised for substantial growth, with a projected worth of US$ 14,960.9 Million by the year 2033. This anticipated expansion is driven by the increasing demand for ...
- World's Best Digital Health Companies 2024 - Diagnosticson April 24, 2024 at 7:05 am
Digital health is a burgeoning global industry. If you have a remote appointment with a doctor or other health care provider, wear a medical device or download electronic medical records, you've ...
- UTMHealthcare Partners with FirstHx to Improve Medical Outcomeson April 23, 2024 at 8:16 am
UTMHealthcare today announced a partnership with FirstHx to combine their technologies to improve health outcomes and relieve our healthcare system.
- Transforming Telehealth: How AI-Powered Virtual Consultations and Remote Monitoring Are Shaping the Future of Healthcareon April 22, 2024 at 2:58 am
Discover how AI-powered telehealth is transforming healthcare with advanced virtual consultations and remote monitoring, enhancing accessibility and efficiency. Explore the integration of AI in ...
- Doctors display ‘PillBot’ that can explore inner human bodyon April 20, 2024 at 8:01 pm
The remote-controlled device can eliminate invasive medical procedures ... If procedure-based diagnostics can be moved from a hospital to a home, "then I think we have achieved that goal ...
- Noregon adds medium-duty coverage for TripVisionon April 17, 2024 at 4:38 am
Noregon recently updated TripVision, adding support for medium-duty vehicles. TripVision is a remote diagnostic application that keeps fleets informed on their vehicles' health, safety ...
- Remote Automated quality control in Radiologyon October 9, 2023 at 3:40 pm
under the guidance of a clinically qualified medical physicist. The IAEA publication is accompanied by supplementary material to support the remote/automated quality control process: The IAEA Human ...
via Google News and Bing News