Infantile hemangiomas (IH) are common vascular growths that occur in 5-10% of neonates and have the potential to cause disfiguring and even life-threatening complications. Currently, no objective tool exist to monitor either progression or treatment of IH. To address this unmet clinical need, we have developed a handheld wireless device (HWD) that uses diffuse optical spectroscopy for the assessment of IH. The system employs 4 wavelengths (l=780nm, 805nm, 850nm, and 905nm) and 6 source-detector pairs with distances between 0.6 and 20 mm. Placed on the skin surface, backreflection data is obtained and a multispectral evolution algorithm is used to determine total hemoglobin concentration and tissue oxygen saturation. First results of an ongoing pilot study involving 13 patients (average enrollment age = 25 months) suggest that an increase in hypoxic stress over time can lead to the proliferation of IH. Involuting IH lesions showed an increase in tissue oxygen saturation as well as a decrease in total hemoglobin.

Date Published: 5 March 2015
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 9319, Optical Tomography and Spectroscopy of Tissue XI, 931920 (5 March 2015); doi: 10.1117/12.2079710

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9319:
Optical Tomography and Spectroscopy of Tissue XI
Bruce J. Tromberg; Arjun G. Yodh; Eva Marie Sevick-Muraca; Robert R. Alfano, Editor(s)