Project Sketches

Paul C. Kainen, Director
Lab for Visual Math
Georgetown University

Outline: 
(1) a database for optical medicine
(2) dental prosthesis via space tech
(3) memory palace DB for museum 
(4) the “snooz-motron” device

(1) a database for optical medicine

An idea for a database: Model a bipartite graph on the set of medical needs and the set of optical sources which are used to treat them.  Links are scientific studies (as reported in papers).

The most famous example of a bipartite graph is that formed by a set of boys and girls (marriage problem, TONCAS).

CompleteGraph[{4,5},VertexSize->Large,EdgeStyle->Thickness[0.013],VertexLabels->{1->Placed[Style["technologies",Large],Below],5->Placed[Style["needs",Large],Below]},VertexLabelStyle->Directive[Purple,Bold,30],ImagePadding->50]

Medicine and optical science are highly complex. An easily usable database relating them would facilitate research and clinical applications.

Some examples of optical medicine follow:

Seasonal affective disorder treatment (SAD) : Choosing a light box

Light therapy boxes can offer an effective treatment for seasonal affective disorder.  Features such as light intensity, safety, cost and style are important considerations. (from Mayo Clinic website)

Not just SAD, but perhaps also the high rate of alcohol-abuse in the near-polar regions might be treated using these “light boxes”.

Low-level light therapy LLLT (from lasers and LEDs mostly in the red to infrared range) has been used to treat wounds and as an analgesic.

Google : Scholarly articles for laser wound healing

Wound healing after excimer laser keratomileusis (… - ‎Fantes - Cited by 550 Effect of laser rays on wound healing - ‎Mester - Cited by 481 … of wound healing following CO < sub > 2 < /sub > laser … - ‎Fisher - Cited by 188 Search Results Low - Level Laser Therapy Facilitates Superficial Wound Healing in ... www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov › ... › J Athl Train › v .39 (3); Jul - Sep 2004 ‎ by JT Hopkins - ‎2004 - ‎Cited by 155 - ‎Related articles Low - Level Laser Therapy Facilitates Superficial Wound Healing in Humans :

Evidence seems to be inconclusive regarding LLLT for wound-healing.  If it does work, then specific wavelengths are required with optimal intensity and exposure levels.  One theory is that the effect involves mitochondria.  Biological and biophysical research will increasingly use optical techniques.

Hyperspectral imaging can diagnose ulcers

Researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science (Los Angeles, CA, USA) have developed algorithms that can analyze hyperspectral images of the foot to identify ulcers associated with diabetes weeks before they are visible to the eye.

Infrared light can be a trigger for some cells.

Surprising discovery that infrared can activate heart and ear cells

	SALT LAKE CITY, March 28, 2011 – University of Utah scientists used invisible infrared light to make rat heart cells contract and toadfish inner-ear cells send signals to the brain. The discovery someday might improve cochlear implants for deafness and lead to devices to restore vision, maintain balance and treat movement disorders like Parkinson’s.

“We’re going to talk to the brain with optical infrared pulses instead of electrical pulses,” which now are used in cochlear implants to provide deaf people with limited hearing, says Richard Rabbitt, a professor of bioengineering and senior author of the heart-cell and inner-ear-cell studies published this month in The Journal of Physiology.

Dentistry has also benefited from optical techniques.

Gen Dent.2009 Jan - Feb; 57 (1) : 47 - 59.
Clinical applications of dental lasers.Lomke MA.Source

University of Maryland Dental School, Baltimore, USA.Abstract

Dental lasers currently have 24 clinical indications for use that are recognized by the FDA.This article explores the scientific basis for these clinical indications in patient diagnosis and treatment.Multiple examples of relevant clinical applications for these wavelengths are explored in detail and illustrated via clinical photographs.PMID : 19146143

The optical medicine database would surely need to be coordinated with NIH, NSF, and FDA but the combination of skyrocketing medical costs with the increasing reach of optical techniques is favorable to such an effort.

(2) dental prosthesis and digital terrain mapping

We propose using digital terrain mapping technology, developed for satellite surveillance, reducing the scale and using the same algorithms.

An analogous idea has been tried:  Hyperspectral imaging is currently being applied in medicine.

In the figure, red and blue denote patterns computed using a large number of separate wavelengths and green and yellow denote actual distinct species.  Recently, different cell types have been distinguished using hyperspectral imaging.

Hyperspectral imaging is being used for prostate cancer detection.

From Journal of Biomedical Optics 17(7), 076005 (July 2012)

Hyperspectral imaging and quantitative analysis for prostate cancer detection by H. Akbari, et al. (Emory University, 5 different departments involved)


Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) is an emerging modality for medical applications.  This new technology was originally derived from the field of remote sensing, which was developed by NASA for space exploration and earth observation.

As shown in a Wikipedia article, hyperspectral imaging is already being used to determine food quality.

The problem is that the range of technological choice is too wide for most people to feel confident in navigating.

Alas, there is no magic crystal ball!

Nevertheless, it is our responsibility to do the best we can in order to protect the children of the future.

This means that we need to be more intelligent in our use of technology in all areas, not only in medicine but also in transportation, communications, and industry.  I think Mathematica can make a critical difference.

(3) a memory palace database for the Isabella Gardner Museum

The “method of loci”, or memory palace, is a technique for recalling information based on specific physical locations and spatial relationships.  Goal is to enable users to construct Memory Palace Databases and to store their information in them.  The Gardner museum would be a test-bed.

The Gardner Museum in Boston gained notoriety over 20 years ago when it was the site of a robbery during which paintings by Rembrandt and Vermeer were stolen. The museum contains world-class work such as the 1560 painting by Titian of Europa and Zeus (in the form of a bull).

The museum has antique technology but it has a beautiful interior courtyard.

And here is a view of part of one of the rooms.

Below is a painting by Samuel Morse of the Louvre (as it used to be); the Gardner still is arranged in this older fashion, but it divides the space into a series of medium-size and dimly lit rooms.  No captions or commentary accompanies the work.

Can one build an app which shows what is on the walls in each room and helps in navigating the museum?

Goal for the Gardner Museum is to automatically display such diagrams for each wall of each room.  Currently, the Gardner has several dog-eared copies of a plastic card, labeled N (or S, W, E), in each room, looking like the above with each number listed below with name of artists,  continuing on the back.

(4) the snooz-motron

The “Snooz-motron” would enable people to sleep naturally and restfully without side-effects and with very low cost.  (For some people, TV suffices.)

The idea is to use biofeedback, based on breathing, eye movements, and electrical signals, to induce a sound sleep.

New analog interfaces which use cell phone or tablet to control sophisticated digital instruments make it feasible.

LionsGate has developed a device it calls the Phone Oximeter using only a low-cost finger sensor and a smartphone.  Key is a proprietary analog-to-digital AC-coupled bridging framework called the Vital Signs DSP.

A variety of existing devices and apps already address the need for audio-visually mediated sleep induction, but Mathematica allows networking so global knowledge and good algorithms could give greatly improved performance.