Even though vascularization is recognized as an important factor in bone healing, there are limitations in terms of assessing vascularization in both preclinical and clinical scenarios. Diffuse optics have a potential to fill this gap by providing deep-tissue, non-invasive, longitudinal monitoring of total hemoglobin concentration, blood oxygen saturation and blood flow. Using rodent models with bone grafts or bone fractures, we will demonstrate the potential to build a prediction model for bone treatment efficacy assessment. In addition, the construction of a multi-modal diffuse optical imager to detect nonunion and monitor treatment in foot fractures will be introduced. Validation studies to compare diffuse optics with gold standard methods will be presented.
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