TOI : Transdermal Optical Imaging

Abstract
Human cardiovascular activities are important indicators of a variety of
physiological and psychological activities in human neuroscience research. The
present proof-of-concept study aimed to reveal the spatiotemporal patterns of
cardiovascular activities from the dynamic changes in hemoglobin concentrations
in the face using TOI.

Transdermal optical imaging, also known as transdermal optical imagery or TOI, is

a method of detecting blood flow of face by measuring hemoglobin concentration
using a digital video camera. Because of the translucent property of skin, light can
travel beneath the skin and re-emit. The re-emitted light from underneath the skin
is affected by chromophores, mainly hemoglobin and melanin, which differ in
color. The color difference allows TOI machine learning software to separate the
images into layers, which are known as bit planes. It extracts signals rich in
hemoglobin and signals rich in melanin, then discards the melanin-rich signals to
obtain a recording of hemoglobin changes under the skin.

Transdermal optical imaging has been proposed as an alternative to cuff-based

methods of measuring blood pressure because it is able to measure heart rate
accurately in a "contactless and non-invasive" way. Transdermal optical imaging
may be able to detect hidden emotions using the patterns of blood flow in the face.