SBIR-STTR Award

The technical objective of this proposal is to develop and test a novel technological concept that utilizes the principles of medical percussion and, further, to design, assemble and test a bench-top model of this diagnostic device. A theoretical model of a contact source for low frequency sound radiation will be developed and the acoustic frequency spectra of both the radiated and received signals will be numerically computed. The model will consider in detail the effective coupling that exists between the external oscillations generated by the low frequency sound source and the motion of the biological tissue at the point of contact. The acoustic impedance for different ratios of gas and liquid in the biological tissue will be calculated. Optimal frequency ranges, receiver sensitivities other such system parameters will be established. Several versions of actuators will be designed and tested. Different types of the signals (i.e. pulse, linear, frequency modulated, controlled noise) will be tested and compared. A few different receivers, such as pressure transducers, accelerometers and sensors, will be evaluated with respect to impedance measurements. An operating bench-top model of a diagnostic device will be built. A percussion sensor will be developed, calibrated and tested on lung-like tissues. As a PC will be used for data collection and processing, a multi-channel interface between the percussion device and the PC will be designed.

Keywords:
Percussion, Locaphony, Hydrophone, Diagnostic Device, Spectrum Analyzer, Lung Diagnostics, Low Frequency Sound Propagation In Tissue, 2d Acoustic Imaging.

Various pulmonary traumas occurring in a battlefield environment require fast and accurate diagnosis. One of the traditional techniques used by physicians for physical examination of pulmonary injuries and diseases is percussion. It is a method of tapping body parts with fingers, hands, or small instruments to evaluate the size, consistency, borders, and presence or absence of fluid/air in body organs, such as lungs, abdomen, etc. Percussion of a body part produces a sound—like playing a drum—that reflects the state of the organ under examination. Percussion has been successfully used for the diagnosis of such potentially lethal conditions for soldiers wounded in the battlefield as traumatic and tension pneumothorax (a collection of gas in the pleural space surrounding the lungs and resulting in the collapse of the lung on the affected side). A significant impact on the mortality rates could be made if pulmonary traumas could be identified rapidly. Our goal is to create a device enabling the application of the percussion diagnostic methodology to pulmonary injury detection quickly and under various conditions.

Keywords:
Percussion Technology, Lung Sounds, Pulmonary Injuries, Casualty Care