Nearfield imaging probe for contactless assessment of burned skin

In modern burn surgery the fast and precise assessment of the burn depth is challenging but also of high importance to adapt the correct wound care. A contactless nearfield probe operating at frequencies from 75 to 110 GHz is presented that is sensitive to the hydration of the skin layers, which is correlated to the burn depth. The results of an in-vivo human skin measurement are presented and a corresponding simulation is adapted that enables a contactless estimation of hydration of stratum corneum and epidermis/dermis as well as its thickness. A millimeter wave image of ex-vivo burned porcine skin is created by positioning the probe stepwise in front of the target to exemplary illustrate the potential of nearfield probe imaging for burn diagnosis.