Study of near infrared technology for intracranial hematoma detection

Although intracranial hematoma detection only requires the continuous wave technique of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), previous studies have shown that there are still some problems in obtaining very accurate, reliable he matoma detection. Several of the most important limitations of NIR technolo gy for hematoma detection such as the dynamic range of detection, hair abso rption, optical contact, layered structure of the head, and depth of detect ion are reported in this article, A pulsed light source of variable intensi ty was designed and studied in order to overcome hair absorption and to inc rease the dynamic range and depth of detection. An adaptive elastic optical probe was made to improve the optical contact and decrease contact noise. A new microcontroller operated portable hematoma detector was developed. Du e to the layered structure of the human head, simulation on a layered mediu m was analyzed experimentally. Model inhomogeneity tests and animal hematom a tests showed the effectiveness of the improved hematoma detector for intr acranial hematoma detection, (C) 2000 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentat ion Engineers. [S1083-3668(00)01302-2].