Alterations in biomechanical characteristics, typically stiffness and viscosity can provide important makers for disease characterization
Imaging the mechanical properties of the vulnerable skin
Skin damage in the context of pressure ulcers, often resulting from the prolonged used of medical devices, as well as radiation-induced fibrosis represents a significant clinical burden to a range of individuals. Patient experience is traumatic and its impact on the healthcare system is substantial. Alterations in biomechanical characteristics, typically stiffness and viscosity, are central to these pathologies and can provide important makers for disease characterization. However, to date, their non-invasive measurement in the clinical setting has not been possible.
Accordingly, we propose to study the vulnerability of skin in the context of normal ageing, pressure ulcers, as well as radiation-induced damage using cutting edge MRI technology developed at KCL. In particular, we propose to use MR-Elastography for the non-invasive characterization of the biomechanical properties of the skin at imaging resolutions of 50micrometers. Such imaging, performed using regular clinical MRI systems, will enable the detailed characterization of skin stiffness as well as skin viscosity. Our latest liver patient data demonstrate that fibrosis and inflammation can be staged non-invasively using our method. Adaptation of this technique to the skin is straightforward using the latest transient 1D technology developed at KCL. As fibrosis and inflammation represent key components for the vulnerable skin, we envisage providing a temporal atlas of biomechanical properties as a function of age and damage progression. This will enable us to provide distinct thresholds to both quantify the degree of skin damage, and predict the risk of substantial damage prior to its irreversible state.
