Novel Applications of Laser Doppler Vibration Measurements to Medical Imaging.
Laser Doppler Vibrometry (LDV) has been widely used in engineering applications involving non-contact vibration and sound measurements. This technique has also been used in some biomedical applications including hearing research. The detectable frequencies are in the range of near-DC to 1 GHz or higher. This paper reviews applications of LDV in biomedical engineering and proposes new medical imaging applications based on measuring surface vibrations of tissues and organs. Tests were conducted on human skin using single point and scanning laser vibrometers. These tests suggest that skin vibrations due to the forcing excitation from the heart can be used in imaging of blood flow. The results of these tests illustrate the potential of such vibration measurements in a variety of diagnostic medical imaging applications including blood flow/restrictions, real-time monitoring of blood pressure variations, wound healing, muscle movements, etc. The fact that the measurements can be conducted remotely (non-contact) is an important benefit that adds to the promise of this approach.
Department of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 3200 N Cramer Street, Milwaukee, WI 53211 USA.
Habib
H
Tabatabai
Polytec, Inc., 25 South Street, Suite A, Hopkinton, MA 01748 USA.
David E
DE
Oliver
Washington University School of Medicine, Campus Box 8134, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130 USA.
John W
JW
Rohrbaugh
Department of Engineering Science and Materials, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, Call Box 9000, Mayagüez, PR 00681-9000 USA.
Christopher
C
Papadopoulos
Blood flow imaging; Laser Doppler Vibrometry; Tissue vibration measurement