From left, Agu, Strong, Tulu, Shubham Jain, a master’s student in robotics engineering, Pedersen, and Dachao Sun, a former PhD student in computer science, discuss an app to monitor chronic wounds, such as the (simulated) diabetic foot ulcer on the table. (Photo courtesy of Worcester Polytechnic Institute)

From left, Agu, Strong, Tulu, Shubham Jain, a master’s student in robotics engineering, Pedersen, and Dachao Sun, a former PhD student in computer science, discuss an app to monitor chronic wounds, such as the (simulated) diabetic foot ulcer on the table. (Photo courtesy of Worcester Polytechnic Institute)

A team of researchers from Worcester Polytechnic Institute have received a 4-year, $1.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop a smartphone app that they suggest will allow patients and their caregivers to track and assess chronic wounds, lower healthcare costs, and catch serious complications early.

Emmanuel Agu, associate professor of computer science and coordinator of WPI’s Mobile Graphics Research Group, is the principal investigator for the project. Co-principal investigators include Diane Strong, a professor in WPI’s Foisie Business School, Bengisu Tulu, an associate professor in the Foisie Business School, and Peder Pedersen, a retired professor of electrical and computer engineering, notes a news story from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

The app, which according to the news story is in its early development stage, is being designed to be used by patients and caregivers, including visiting nurses, who need to regularly check the status of potentially dangerous wounds in the home environment.

Using the app, patients or caregivers will photograph the chronic wound. Machine learning algorithms built into the app will then assess the wound via metrics, such as size, depth, and color, which indicate how the wound healing is progressing. The algorithms will compare the readings over time to determine if the wound is shrinking or expanding, or if there are other changes, like darkening tissue, that could indicate a growing infection or other complication.

The app will also compute a healing score that tells the patient whether the wound is getting better, is unchanged, or is worsening. Finally, the app will suggest one of three actions: stay the course, consult a wound specialist for advice regarding treatment, or seek immediate care.

Agu, Pedersen, and Clifford Lindsay, assistant professor of radiology at University of Massachusetts Medical School, will lead an effort to address one of the key technical challenges of the new project: processing imperfect smartphone photos taken by amateurs.

To address this problem, the team will develop algorithms similar to those used in facial recognition software that can transform each image so it appears as if it was taken straight on, at the proper distance, and under ideal lighting conditions. They will use techniques from an area of computer science called computational photography.

In addition to fixing the images, the research team will need to train their algorithms to properly assess and interpret them, work that will draw on the decision support expertise of Strong and Tulu. The team will expose their algorithms to hundreds of images of actual wounds taken, with patient consent, by Lindsay. Raymond Dunn ‘78, chief of plastic and reconstructive surgery at UMass Memorial, is a consultant to the project, the news story continues.

Agu and the team will feed the photos, along with wound care specialists’ expert assessments of the wounds and what kind of treatments they require, into the machine learning system so the app will “learn” how to analyze the wounds and calculate what care advice to give. Agu’s team will also test the algorithms on realistic simulated wounds they create with special 3D printers.

“This won’t replace doctor visits entirely, but it will augment those visits,” Agu states in the news story. “Patients or caregivers can check in anytime they want using this app and get more feedback than they do with occasional doctor visits. If people self-monitor, they are more likely to change their behavior, keep a closer eye on their wounds, and take the proper care those dangerous wounds need.”

The wound app is being developed on the Android platform, but Agu expects it ultimately to be adapted for the iPhone platform as well.

[Source: Worcester Polytechnic Institute]