Mohammadreza Nasiriavanaki, PhD

2019 Awardee: Study of Photoacoustic Hidradenitis Suppurativa-Specific Radiomic Signatures

Department of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Dermatology at Wayne State University, and the Department of Oncology at the Karmanos Cancer Institute, in Detroit, Michigan.

Co-Investigator: Steven Daveluy, MD, Department of Dermatology, School of Medicine Wayne State University and the Department of Oncology, Karmanos Cancer Institute, Detroit, Michigan.

Award amount: $5,000

Layman’s Statement

In the assessment of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) there are two major problems: 1) clearly identifying the extent of involvement of HS tracts under the skin surface; and, 2) to differentiate HS tracts from blood vessels, specifically when using high frequency ultrasound imaging (HFUSI). We have developed a new technology that has the ability to differentiate HS tracts from blood vessels by detecting the difference between blood and other fluids; and, to create a 3-D map of the full extent of HS tracts, in real-time. The name of this technology is photoacoustic (PA) imaging and the device we built is a multispectral photoacoustic imaging (MPI) probe. The MPI probe is a modified version of an ultrasound probe (see Fig. 1), providing a safe, familiar, and easy to use device for clinicians. The results produced by this device are easy to understand, color images which clearly identify HS structures and blood vessels, in 3-D. In clinical trials, PA has demonstrated promising results in differentiating tissues, tissue types and, especially, blood. To test our device, we will compare the efficacy of ultrasound and photoacoustic technologies in identifying HS sinuses and blood vessels. Then we will use MPI probe to accurately identify the HS borders and create 3-D, real-time image maps of the HS structures.