Developing a Bilayer Optical Phantom to Investigate Optical Coherence Tomography Performance across Skin Pigmentations – A Push Towards Medical Device Equity
Open Access Depositedi) to fabricate an optical phantom of the human dermis with scattering-dominant properties, ii) to fabricate an optical phantom of the human epidermis with tunable pigmentation, and iii) to investigate the performance of OCT across the pigmented optical phantoms.
Optical medical device modalities including pulse oximetry, spectral imaging, andphotoacoustic imaging have demonstrated bias across skin tones in clinical validation studies [1,2]. This bias has led to an over and under estimation of patient measurements leading to misdiagnosis and improper patient care management. The result of this has ranged from administering unnecessary interventions to death [3]. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is an optical medical modality that is rapidly evolving in its applications. Currently, OCT is a standard diagnostic tool used in ophthalmology and is expanding into the field of dermatology. Unlike the more mature optical modalities, there is not sufficient clinical data testing the accuracy of OCT across skin tones. However, literature provides evidence that supports the need for a proactive approach to prevent any pigmentation bias in this technology from propagating. This dissertation aims to investigate the use of phantoms to mimic the optical properties of human skin pigmentation, in order to test the performance of OCT across skin pigmentations. The specific aims include
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