A Hand-Held, Single-Sided NMR Sensor for Full-Thickness Skin Detection

To rapidly assess burn depth, a hand-held, single-sided nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) sensor was designed for full-thickness skin detection. The sensor is composed of a single-sided magnet, a radio frequency coil, a matching circuit, and an aluminum shell. The permanent magnet array was optimized using the sparrow search algorithm (SSA) with low vertical gradient strength and each layer obtaining maximal uniformity in field of view (FOV). The actual measured magnetic field of the single-sided magnet is perfect match with the simulation results. Experimental results of depth-transverse relaxation time ( T-2) map prove that this sensor has high sensitivity to distinguish deep dermal and full-thickness burns and superficial partial-thickness burns.

Automated summary

A hand-held, single-sided nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) sensor was designed to quickly assess burn depth and detect full-thickness skin. The sensor consists of a single-sided magnet, a radio frequency coil, a matching circuit, and an aluminum shell. The optimization of the permanent magnet array using the sparrow search algorithm (SSA) resulted in low vertical gradient strength and maximal uniformity in field of view (FOV) for each layer. The experimental results of the depth-transverse relaxation time (T-2) map proved that this sensor is highly sensitive in distinguishing deep dermal and full-thickness burns, as well as superficial partial-thickness burns.