Andreea Bujor, MD, PhD
Spatial Frequency Domain Imaging as a New Method to Quantify Skin Changes in Scleroderma
Boston University
Established Investigator Award
This project will use a new kind of device, called spatial frequency domain imaging (SFDI), to quantify skin changes in scleroderma. SFDI projects light onto the skin surface, and provides a quantitative value related to the amount of light scattering that occurs in the skin (“scattering coefficient”). To do this, SFDI will be applied to patients and results will be compared with the current “gold standard” (skin pitching also called the modified Rodnan skin score or mRSS). Additionally, SFDI results will be correlated with other measures of skin involvement in scleroderma, including patient reported outcomes, ultrasound and biopsy. Our preliminary data indicates that SFDI has a strong correlation with the mRSS and can differentiate between healthy individuals and patients with scleroderma that have no obvious skin fibrosis by gold standard. Using this device is easy, fast, noninvasive and gives objective results. This may help clinicians to detect fibrosis in the skin at an earlier stage, and more accurately assess the response to a specific therapy. Since early intervention can improve survival in this disease, our proposed work would potentially help scleroderma patients live better and longer lives.