| An improved non-invasive, in vivo, Visible Reflectance HyperSpectral Imaging, VRHI, system was developed in the Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging, LBI, at the University of Texas at Arlington, UTA, for clinical imaging, based on the prototype developed at the National Institutes of Health, NIH.;To demonstrate the clinical robustness of this improved system, 20 non-smoking human subjects and 20 smoking subjects were imaged and analyzed. Firstly, baseline measures taken from the palm of the hand were compared for smokers versus non-smokers. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) between the percentages of HbO2 and MetHb for smokers and non-smokers, but there was a significant difference (P < 0.05) between the two groups for percentages of HbCO perfusing the skin tissue. Secondly, measures were taken from the palm of the hand of smokers before smoking and after smoking. The results depicted a significant difference (P < 0.05) between the values before and after smoking for HbO2, HbCO and HbMet. The system showed results within the error limits of the values published in literature. |
