New med device day: non invasive diagnostics

Using photoacoustics and thermal imaging PREMIUM CONTENT subscriber access

I described dual-mode photoacoustic/ultrasound endoscopy imaging in my past newsletter: Medical Device Developments: Gynecology, Endoscopy, Trauma care, Orthopedics

The photoacoustic technique uses a laser beamed onto biological tissue, which causes the tissue components to absorb the light, heating it slightly. This causes the tissue to expand and contract, creating ultrasonic sound waves. Different materials and molecules inside the tissue absorb different amounts of the incident light at different wavelengths. Now it can be used to measure blood glucose in situ.

Thermal cameras and infrared thermometers measure temperature accurately from a distance—versatile and valuable tools applicable in many fields from the military to medical diagnostics. Recent advances have fine-tuned it to allow the measure of vitals signs, remotely from a distance.

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