3D Structure Sensor Technology for Chronic Wound Care & Measurement: Developing a Mobile Application for Clinicians & Patients Using Open-Sourced Tech
Lead Research Organisation:
Brunel University London
Department Name: Computer Science
Abstract
3D Structure Sensor Technology for Chronic Wound Care and Measurement: Developing a Mobile Application for Clinicians and Patients Using Open-Sourced Technologies
This research proposes to explore the feasibility of exploiting recent developments in the 3D structure sensor research domain to enable accurate, efficient and non-invasive wound measurements to be taken by both patients and practitioners. As proof of concept and part of my Final Year Project, I have developed a rudimentary mobile application using the Occipital 3D Structure Sensor and Unity Phys-X Engine, which aimed to provided initial feasibility of the technological deployment capability of such technologies on a mobile platform, and also an initial analysis on utilising 3D structure sensory data to improve the accuracy of measurements as part of the WMP. The One-Sampled T-Test (two tailed) Hypothesis consisted of comparing Digital Measurements vs. approved measurement techniques (Ruler based) (Health Service Executive 2009; M Fette 2006).
This research proposes to explore the feasibility of exploiting recent developments in the 3D structure sensor research domain to enable accurate, efficient and non-invasive wound measurements to be taken by both patients and practitioners. As proof of concept and part of my Final Year Project, I have developed a rudimentary mobile application using the Occipital 3D Structure Sensor and Unity Phys-X Engine, which aimed to provided initial feasibility of the technological deployment capability of such technologies on a mobile platform, and also an initial analysis on utilising 3D structure sensory data to improve the accuracy of measurements as part of the WMP. The One-Sampled T-Test (two tailed) Hypothesis consisted of comparing Digital Measurements vs. approved measurement techniques (Ruler based) (Health Service Executive 2009; M Fette 2006).
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Arthur Money (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Zear Ibrahim (Student) |
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP/N509437/1 | 01/10/2016 | 30/09/2021 | |||
| 1819220 | Studentship | EP/N509437/1 | 01/11/2016 | 31/10/2020 | Zear Ibrahim |
| EP/R512990/1 | 01/10/2018 | 30/09/2023 | |||
| 1819220 | Studentship | EP/R512990/1 | 01/11/2016 | 31/10/2020 | Zear Ibrahim |
| Description | As part of this research, we aimed to evaluate ubiquitous mobile technologies that can be deployed on cost-saving and open-sourced platforms in a bid to tackle the ageing and growing population that is straining public health resources. Through governmental recommendations and aligned with the European Commission's Vision for 2020, novel patient-centred and Computer Mediated Reality Technologies (CMRT) in recent years have been identified as one of the key enabling strategies that have the potential to overcome the scarcity of resources particularly within the area of developing technology-based solutions for a personalised patient-health strategy. Consequently, research findings indicate little effort has been spent on targeting the older population through synchronous ubiquitous (on-the-fly) CMRTs, despite governmental strategies. Large efforts have been invested into augmenting and improving treatment strategies for invasive surgical procedures and has shown significant and successful progression. However, future CMRT systems in healthcare would benefit from expending more effort into focusing development, deployment and evaluation of mobile synchronous CMRT for patient-centred non-invasive and preventative healthcare procedures. To this end, the education of the older population in aspects such as fall prevention and home adaptations; mobility exergames; anatomy education and wound/dermatology care provide major opportunities for self-assessment in the absence of clinicians in the home. CMRT Includes: Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Mixed Reality and 3D-Modelling. |
| Exploitation Route | The foundation of this research required a successful establishment of the state of the art in healthcare intervention systems prior to proceeding with system and software development life-cycles. The research results have been proposed to the community through a journal publication and it is recommended further research effort to be spent on the usage and implementation of ubiquitous camera technologies (mobile phones, tablets and everyday devices) through open-sourced platform such as OpenCv, OpenAI, ARKit and ARCore with a goal to educate the upcoming older population for self-assessment in the absence of clinicians in the home. Aspects such as fall prevention and home adaptations; mobility exergames; anatomy education and wound/dermatology care provide major opportunities for digitization and automation. Further bespoke research is required targeting the Occupational Therapy (OT) health-practitioners with the usage of novel ubiquitous IR/ToF (Infrared/Time of Flight) mobile camera technology to enable the assistance of measurement practices congruent to self-sufficient assessment of ordinary living of older adults within the home. Pilot studies seeking to establish the efficiency, accuracy and validity of measurements in comparison with authorised practices prior to clinical trials, is an endeavour to be explored by the Computer Science research community in collaboration with OT professionals and older adults. |
| Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Healthcare,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| URL | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbi.2019.103102 |
| Title | Pilot Study - Deploying IR/ToF (Infrared / Time of Flight) Mobile Camera Technology to Occupational Therapists professionals and trainees for measurement purposes. |
| Description | The aims of this pilot study were of two-fold. First, a presentation of a mobile Augmented Reality point to point measurement system which has been deployed on a commercially available depth-perception (TOF-CW) enabled tablet utilising active range sensors and the passive-parallax approaches. Second, an evaluation of the indoor measurement accuracy of the system through Occupational Therapists (OTs) who stand at the forefront of manual and hand based indoor object measurements in comparison with a 2D state of the art paper-based guidance leaflet which is currently used in practice. The evaluation aims to establish the relative efficiency and effectiveness of the system in conjunction with its feasibility and perceptions in terms of user satisfaction and attitudes towards adopting and using this new technology in practice. Preliminary results indicate the measurements of the system in comparison with the guidance leaflet are within the acceptable margin identified to be 5 cm's in OT practice settings. However, the margin identified is one of lax requirements and will form part of one of the recommendations to further improve upon by the OT community. Additionally, the measurements captured by the system have provided in-depth Point-Cloud data sets that can be further processed using Mathematical/Computer Science concepts such as K-Means Nearest neighbours and Euclidean distances in attempts to provide the user with visual ques when performing digital measurements to improve overall accuracy. The new and improved version of the system will be subject to a further trial in clinical settings and establish the research users (older adults) views with adoption of this system for assessment either in collaboration with OTs or self-efficiency in absence of the clinician. Developments of the open-sourced tablet technology has been depreciated and replaced with a more ubiquitous device that fits into the pocket. The replacement technologies' ethos as identified by the developers, steers away from enabling detailed and accurate scans of environmental Point Cloud Data and instead focuses on the user experience of the device with similar hardware and software features. The replacement technology, in combination with the preliminary results provide even more incentive for the research community to invest larger efforts into algorithmic and novel software-based solutions to provide accurate point-to-point measurement technology. To this end, integrating open-sourced technology that can be maintained by the community, instead of large conglomerates driven by capital gain, can provide massive cost-saving opportunities for both the public sector and governmental strategies whilst providing care to patients that have access to free health-care information on the internet and have started asking better-informed questions. Funding opportunities remain within the current EPSRC grant as the project and system development is still ongoing. |
| Type | Health and Social Care Services |
| Current Stage Of Development | Initial development |
| Year Development Stage Completed | 2018 |
| Development Status | On hold |
| Impact | The main focus of the development process is to analyse the current captured data sets from the trials and align this with current OTs expectations in terms of system design and applicability. Further trials will require an algorithmic improvement to the current measurement process and enabling correct translation from user input to measurement start-end points to facilitate an OTs analysis and promote independent living of elderly patients within the home. |
| Description | Alpha System - Demonstration of IR/ToF Point Cloud Data to Occupational Therapists. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Upon successful identification of the area in most need of digitisation within Occupational Therapy - the 3D rudimentary application was updated and further developed using Infrared and Time of Flight based mobile system to perform on the fly measurements. The alpha application demonstrated to a set of accredited therapists sparked several conversations regarding the need for measurement support and assistance by the system itself. Markers or visual ques were required for a therapists to clearly identify the process of assessment in comparison with current guidance documentation. Decision were made to replicate current assessment tools and perform pilot and trial interventions to assess it's efficiency and accuracy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Occupational Therapy - Demonstration of Rudimentary 3D Measurement System using Locally Scanned Objects |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The Occupational Therapy Conference held at Mile end Hospital at Tower Hamlets was attended by Occupational Therapists Professionals and practitioners that engaged in a large sector of the field where I was able to present a rudimentary 3D measurement application using locally stored objects. I was able to discuss the proposal of the PhD and it's envisaged use within the field and where the developments of the system would be focused. The audience posed several challenging questions related to how service users and practitioners will be engaging in assessment activities and how patient privacy and data will be monitored? These talks provided the initial ground work for a necessary piece of work being the literature review (now published) and establishing the state of the art in the field of Computer and Camera aided healthcare intervention systems. Subsequent system developments were then tailored and focused towards the field of context that would benefit the most from digitisation of measurements in Occupational Therapy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | PhD Symposium / Consortium - Industry and Ecological Validity |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The PhD consortium is a departmental lead activity to publish and present the most recent research activity to the wider public and university. The panel consisted of industry professionals and honorary academics that assess and critique research based on it's novelty, impact to the public and potential for publication. Critique was received regarding plans for the future, implementation of the measurement systems, method of pilot and trial studies with it's context brought back to ecological validity of the work. With implemented changes potential collaborations were discussed with NICE and other institutes depending on results and outcome. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |