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AIM and Transdermal Optical Imaging

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Artificial Intelligence in Medicine

Abstract

Cardiovascular parameters like blood pressure, heart rate, heart rhythm, and heart rate variability are highly useful in assessing patient health, disease risk, and response to treatment. However, technological limitations curtail their measurement in many cases. The recent development of transdermal optical imaging (TOI) technology has made it possible to extract high-quality blood flow information from conventional video of a patient’s face and then use it to accurately estimate these cardiovascular parameters. TOI technology could thus be implemented on any device capable of capturing and processing video (e.g., any modern smartphone) and thus constitute a comfortable, convenient, and ubiquitous tool for measuring cardiovascular parameters.

TOI builds upon remote photoplethysmography in part by using machine learning to extract robust blood flow information from video of the face. This signal can be used directly to compute heart rate, heart rhythm, and heart rate variability. Information from signal features containing blood pressure information has been combined with the help of machine learning to accurately estimate systolic and diastolic pressures. Further development of this technology is likely to enable the assessment of additional physiological parameters (e.g., respiration rate, SpO2), disease risks (e.g., hypertension, diabetes), blood biomarker concentrations (e.g., cholesterol, HbA1c), and even mental health conditions (e.g., depression, anxiety).

With the necessary regulatory approvals and clinical trials, TOI-based tools would enable accurate, convenient, and contactless screening, diagnosis, and monitoring of patient health. They would revolutionize healthcare delivery through better access and efficiency and thus not only reduce costs but also improve health worldwide.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Health Management Centre, Drum Tower Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China

    Andrew Barszczyk

  2. Health Management Centre, Drum Tower Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China

    Weihong Zhou

  3. Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Kang Lee

Authors
  1. Andrew Barszczyk
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  2. Weihong Zhou
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  3. Kang Lee
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kang Lee .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

    Niklas Lidströmer

  2. Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK

    Hutan Ashrafian

1 Electronic Supplementary Materials

Introduction to the topic of artificial intelligence and transdermal optical imaging (MP4 69462 kb)

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Barszczyk, A., Zhou, W., Lee, K. (2021). AIM and Transdermal Optical Imaging. In: Lidströmer, N., Ashrafian, H. (eds) Artificial Intelligence in Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58080-3_250-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58080-3_250-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-58080-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-58080-3

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