One of the most severe but least perceived outcomes of diabetes is diabetic neuropathy. Researches have shown that a close correlation exists between diabetic neuropathy and microvascular blood flow in human skin. Existing methods are primarily incompatible with serial measurements and tend to be used only once in the patient's hospitalisation. Diffuse optical measurement is an evolving optical modality that provides a fast and portable alternative to the more costly medical diagnostics in assessing the blood flow. A well-known spectral window exists in the visible-NIR (600nm -900nm) region, wherein tissue absorption is relatively low so that light can penetrate deep volumes of tissue. Diffuse optics in both static and dynamic mode can be considered an alternative that offers a simple, portable, fast, continuous, and relatively inexpensive, non-invasive quantification of hemodynamics in human skin tissues.
A novel spectroscopic portable complete skin optical characterisation device is proposed that works on the principle of correlation methods in quantifying the motion of scatterers in the microvasculature. The in-house developed device consists of a coherent laser source, low-cost avalanche photodiode, an in-built static parameter estimator that aid in calculating the dynamic flow and a software correlator for continuous monitoring of blood flow through microvasculature. Finite element based in-silico light tissue interaction studies, novelty and modifications to the existing system, and initial results will be discussed in the seminar, followed by the future work plan in using the developed device to manage diabetic neuropathy conditions.