# Dynamic OCE with acoustic micro-tapping for in vivo monitoring of skin graft surgeries

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2022 · $559,180

## Abstract

Abstract
The goal of this project is a develop a non-contact, non-invasive clinical tool to characterize, image and
monitor skin grafting procedures using quantitative, volumetric, sub-mm resolved maps of Young's
modulus based on Optical Coherence Elastography (OCE).
Factors related to or directly defined by skin's elastic properties (such as contractions and shearing forces) are
among the most common complications of full thickness skin graft (FTSG) procedures. In addition, the recipient
site functions best when its elastic properties are matched by transplanted donor tissue. With tens of millions
of aesthetic procedures performed every year in the USA alone, surgical cosmesis is clearly critical, especially
when procedures are performed on the face, neck or breast. Currently there are no clinical tools, or even
methods, that can quantitatively map skin's Young's modulus and anisotropy in vivo. We propose to map these
parameters in skin using a non-contact, fully non-invasive method, with sub-mm spatial resolution and
nearly in real time. We hypothesize that quantifying skin elasticity in vivo will enable significant innovation within
all areas of plastic surgery, burn surgery, oncologic surgery, and dermatology that modify a patient's tissue
quality and elastic properties through medical, radiologic, or surgical intervention.
To achieve our objective, we propose a new non-contact OCE method. Our approach is based on: (i) acoustic
micro-tapping (AµT) using ultrasound propagating in air to launch mechanical waves in soft media with the
highest efficiency and best resolution among all non-contact wave-excitation methods, (ii) state-of-the-art real-
time 4-D PhS-OCT imaging to track wave propagation, and (iii) reconstruction of volumetric maps of Young's
modulus and anisotropy using imaged wavefields in skin analyzed with a transversally isotropic model.
SA1 will focus on refining previously developed analytic and numerical models of mechanical wave
propagation in skin considering its layered anisotropic structure, and developing algorithms to reconstruct
skin's moduli. Then, SA2 will develop a robotized AµT-OCE imaging system for in vivo skin measurements in
a clinical environment. We will perform routine measurements of skin elastic moduli in vivo on healthy
volunteers to understand normal variability in skin elastic properties in a representative population of normal
human subjects to help define the level of expected improvements possible in matching skin elastic properties
in FTSG procedures. SA3 will focus on in vivo monitoring changes in grafted skin elastic properties during
grafting procedures in the clinic, including pre-operative mapping of skin's elastic properties in donor and
recipient sites and mapping longitudinal changes in fundamental structural and elastic parameters of FTSGs
and surrounding tissue over the reconstruction process. If successful, this project can be the starting point for
multiple continuation projects testing whe...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10374914
- **Project number:** 5R01AR077560-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** IVAN PELIVANOV
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $559,180
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-04-01 → 2026-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10374914

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10374914, Dynamic OCE with acoustic micro-tapping for in vivo monitoring of skin graft surgeries (5R01AR077560-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10374914. Licensed CC0.

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