Noninvasive Three-Dimensional Fluorescence Microscopy for Skin Disease Detection

Background

Skin disease is one of the leading causes of global disease burden, affecting millions worldwide. There are at least 15 categories of skin diseases, with acne, fungal skin disease, and skin and subcutaneous disease being the most prevalent. Skin diseases are not only a detriment to the skin and quality of life, but also spread over time. It is extremely important to control the spread of skin diseases and have reliable image processing technologies for early detection and effective diagnosis. The disclosed technology addresses an unmet medical need by proposing an innovative method for early detection and subsequent diagnoses of skin diseases.

Competitive Advantages

• Live cell imaging—The skin moves around the focus plane, whereas pre-existing methods require the sample to be held stable at the focus plane for increased time periods.
• Noninvasive—can be directly applied to human skin and eliminates the need to excise skin tissue from the body and prepare samples
• Ultra-fast—Captures a single image in milliseconds; this is 3X faster than existing methods.
• Mobile application—Its utility has the potential to become mobile, as a handheld device will be created.
• Decreased skin damage—The actual exposure of the skin area to a laser is less in magnitude compared to pre-existing methods
• Ideal target market—Medical imaging and instruments

Market

The disclosed technology falls under the live cell imaging global market. This market was valued at $4.6 billion in 2016 and continues to expand at 8.5% CAGR between 2018 and 2025. The market is further segmented into products, applications, regions and technologies. North America dominates the majority of the market share. The market is driven by the increased prevalence of chronic diseases and the need for technologically advanced screening and diagnostic techniques.

Rowan University is looking for a partner to further develop and commercialize this technology through a license. The inventor is excited to collaborate with interested companies.