In Vivo Opto-Physiological Imaging

The purpose of in vivo opto-physiologic imaging is to assess the function of tissues and organs to allow clinicians, allied healthcare professionals, and even personal users to monitor changes in the pathophysiological state of these tissues and organs. In vivo physiological imaging is an important and sometime critical component of many clinical applications including non-contact vital sign monitoring and assessment, related to current and future developments especially those associated with mobile Health (mHealth) devices. One of the crucial challenges in this type of application is a proper understanding of the physical principles governing the interaction between the imaging sensor and the tissues being imaged. Remote sensing of body temperature, heart rate and respiration is of particularly current interest, given the need for rapidly screening large numbers infected with or carriers of Covid-19 virus. Less immediately, although of equal importance in the delivery of high performance multi-functional in vivo imaging, ideally in real time, is the development of sophisticated electronics, executive software and, increasingly, the application of machine learning (ML) techniques to a diverse range of signal processing algorithms. With advances in mHealth, there is a need to develop robust and reliable imaging technologies that can provide an early indication of nascent or developing pathologies and thus to encourage early, targeted and personalized healthcare.

Note: articles on COVID-19 submitted to all our journals, including this collection, will be fully waived.

We welcome research across the entire field, from the experimental to the computational and from the purely theoretical to the application of innovative technology. This Research Topic will focus on publishing Original Research and Review articles of the application of biomedical imaging to the screening, monitoring, and assessment of physiological and pathological processes and how these change under everyday conditions.

Keywords: Laser Doppler vibrometry, Smart Image and signal processing, Imaging photoplethysmography (iPPG), (Hyper) Spectral imaging, Laser Speckle imaging, rapidly screening, Covid-19 virus

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.