Research project is (co) funded by the Slovenian Research Agency.
UL Member: Faculty of Mathematics and Physics
Code: N3-0348
Project: Optical diagnostics of dermal infections
Period: 1. 1. 2024 - 31. 12. 2027
Range per year: 0,89, category: C
Head: Matija Milanič
Research activity: Natural sciences and mathematics
Research Organisations, Researchers and Citations for bibliographic records
Project description:
The main objective of the proposed research is to facilitate the translation of OID into clinical practise and FLA for faster and more accurate identification and discrimination of SSTI microbes. The specific objectives of the research are:
- Spectral imaging of SSTI microbe cultures. Microbial cultures of common SSTI microbes will be imaged using VIS-NIR reflectance/transmittance, fluorescence and Raman SI. Morphology will be examined using optical coherence tomography (OCT). Diverse substrates will be used for microbial cultivation, simulating FLA environment and real skin infections.
- Spectral imaging of SSTI in-vivo. Patients with SSTI will be imaged using the specially developed SI system and the OCT system.
- Development of standardised image processing pipelines. The collected images will be used to develop end-to-end image processing pipelines (IPPLs) for obtaining optimal sensitivity and specificity of identification and differentiation of SSTI microbes for FLA and clinical inspection. Microbial classification performance will be validated against CSC.
- Creation of a publicly available database of SI images. An online database environment for storage, access and processing of SSTI images of microbial cultures (1) and in-vivo images (2) will be prepared.
The results of this research, including the standardisation of the spectral image processing pipeline, will enable a smoother transition of this technology into clinical practise. In particular, using the results of this study will enable research and development for usable clinical devices and corresponding IPPLs.
