Towards co-registered speckle contrast optical tomography and frequency domain diffuse optical tomography for hemodynamics monitoring during 5th metatarsal fracture healing

Jones fractures, which occur in the proximal fifth metatarsal of the foot carry a significant risk of nonunion. Nonunions increase the patient’s financial burden, risk of infection, and may take years to heal completely. Exploiting the fact that a reason for this higher risk of nonunion is inadequate blood supply, we will use diffuse optics to monitor the fracture healing process. We recently developed a speckle contrast optical tomography system which we will combine and co-register with a frequency domain-diffuse optical tomography system. This combination will provide a powerful instrument optimized for monitoring patient risk of nonunion during fracture healing.