A noninvasive surface wave technique for measuring finger's skin stiffness

The purpose of this work was to develop a compact surface wave elastography (CSWE) device for measuring finger's skin stiffness. The motivation was to develop a noninvasive technique for assessing limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis (lcSSc) in accordance with new ACR/EULAR clarification criteria. Currently, the Modified Rodnan Skin Score (MRSS) is widely used for assessing systemic sclerosis but is challenging for assessing patients with lcSSc. The novelty of CSWE is to develop a noninvasive technique to measure the elastic properties of skin of fingers. In the CSWE device, a local harmonic vibration was generated on the finger's skin. The surface wave speed on the finger's skin was measured without contact using a compact optical probe. The CSWE device was first validated with an ultrasound-based surface wave elastography (USWE) device on a phantom. The CSWE device was then validated with the USWE device on both the dorsal and ventral arms of a volunteer. The CSWE device was evaluated to measure the surface wave speed of four fingers for the volunteer. The CSWE device may be useful for measuring skin stiffness over multiple areas of fingers and hands for assessing lcSSc.