Handheld Erythema and Bruise Detector

Abstract

Visual inspection of intact skin is commonly used when assessing persons for pressure ulcers and bruises. Melanin masks skin discoloration hindering visual inspection in people with darkly pigmented skin. The objective of the project is to develop a point of care technology capable of detecting erythema and bruises in persons with darkly pigmented skin. Two significant hardware components, a color filter array and illumination system have been developed and tested. The color filter array targets four defined wavelengths and has been designed to fit onto a CMOS sensor. The crafting process generates a multilayer film on a glass substrate using vacuum ion beam splitter and lithographic techniques. The illumination system is based upon LEDs and targets these same pre-defined wavelengths. Together, these components are being used to create a small, handheld multispectral imaging device. Compared to other multi spectral technologies (multi prisms, optical-acoustic crystal and others), the design provides simple, low cost instrumentation that has many potential multi spectral imaging applications which require a handheld detector.