In-vivo investigations on the detection of chronical polyarthritis (c.P.) using a cw-transillumination method at interphalangeal joints

摘要

Abstract: This paper presents first results of an in-vivo-experimental study on the detection of pathological changes of chronical polyarthritis (c.P.) performed by a near infrared cw- transillumination method in interphalangeal joints. The inflammation of a joint system when caused by c.P. leads to changes in the synovial membrane, synovia composition and content, and anatomic geometrical variations. Measurements have shown that these rheumatic induced inflammation processes result in a variation in optical properties ($mu$-a$/, $mu$-s$/, g) of the joint system. Using a scanning system the interphalangeal joint is transilluminated with diode lasers (788 nm, 831 nm) perpendicular to the articular cavity in order to use the entire distribution of the transmitted radiation intensity for diagnostic purposes. The study includes results of in-vivo-measurements on healthy and c.P. patients and the evaluation of different distribution properties for detection of chronical polyarthritis. !2