Embedded Sensing and Computing (ESC) Group

mWound: AI-Powered Sensing and Imaging for Chronic Wound Care

Project Overview

Concept illustration of smartphone multispectral and photoacoustic assessment of foot perfusion

Chronic wounds, including diabetic foot and leg ulcers, are often complicated by impaired tissue perfusion, yet quantitative vascular assessment remains difficult to perform repeatedly across clinical and home settings. mWound develops noninvasive biomarkers of wound vascular status using two complementary technologies. Smartphone-based multispectral imaging is being designed for repeated measurement of perfusion-related signals, while portable three-dimensional photoacoustic tomography is being developed to map hemoglobin distribution and vascular structure without injected contrast agents. Machine-learning methods reconstruct and analyze imaging data to identify clinically meaningful biomarkers. In collaboration with multiple clinics, the studies evaluate measurement validity, feasibility, and relationships between vascular measures and wound outcomes. The long-term goal is objective monitoring that supports timely, individualized wound care.

ESC Group Team

Professor
Wenyao Xu
Postdoctoral researchers
Wei Bo; Xiaoyu Zhang
Lead Ph.D. student
Alexander Gherardi
Undergraduate student
Matt Szigeti
Former ESC members
Huining Li; Zhengxiong Li; Chenhan Xu; Ahmet Demirbas

Collaborators

  • Jun Xia — Biomedical Engineering, University at Buffalo
  • Praveen Arany — Oral Biology, University at Buffalo
  • Linda Harris — Vascular Surgery, University at Buffalo
  • Heamchand Subryan — IDEA Center, University at Buffalo
  • Sikandar Khan — Vascular Surgery, University at Buffalo

Former collaborators

  • Guan Yu — Biostatistics, University of Pittsburgh
  • Saptarshi Chakraborty — Mathematical and Computer Sciences, Heriot-Watt University

Publications

  1. Predictive Modeling of Chronic Foot Ulcer Outcomes Using Longitudinal Photoacoustic Imaging.npj Imaging, 4, article 12, February 2026. [PDF] [BibTeX]Yanda Cheng, Chuqin Huang, Shu-liang Yu, Saptarshi Chakraborty, Yunqi Xi, Robert W. Bing, Huijuan Zhang, Xiaoyu Zhang, Isabel Komornicki, Linda M. Harris, Wenyao Xu, Jun Xia.
  2. Radiomics-Driven Perfusion Prediction in Clinical Photoacoustic Foot Imaging.Photoacoustics, 46, article 100776, December 2025. [PDF] [BibTeX]Chuqin Huang, Yanda Cheng, Xiaoyu Zhang, Ye Zhan, Wenhan Zheng, Isabel Komornicki, Linda M. Harris, Wenyao Xu, Jun Xia.
  3. Hyperspectral Reconstruction for Mobile Diabetic Foot Blood Perfusion Monitoring.BMC Artificial Intelligence, 1, article 10, September 2025. [PDF] [BibTeX]Alexander Gherardi, Wei Bo, Ahmet Demirbas, Ye Zhan, Wenyao Xu.
  4. mmSkin: An Over-Gauze Wound Assessment System Using Radio Frequency Technologies.IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 12(13), 23773–23787, July 2025. [PDF] [BibTeX]Xiaoyu Zhang, Zhengxiong Li, Yanda Cheng, Chenhan Xu, Chuqin Huang, Emma Zhang, Ye Zhan, Wei Bo, Jun Xia, Wenyao Xu.
  5. Through-Dressing Wound Monitoring Based on the mmWave Sensor.International Workshop on Human-Centered Sensing, Modeling, and Intelligent Systems (HumanSys), May 2025. [PDF] [BibTeX]Xiaoyu Zhang, Zhengxiong Li, Yanda Cheng, Chenhan Xu, Chuqin Huang, Emma Zhang, Ye Zhan, Wei Bo, Jun Xia, Wenyao Xu.
  6. Enhanced Clinical Photoacoustic Vascular Imaging through a Skin Localization Network and Adaptive Weighting.Photoacoustics, 42, article 100690, January 2025. Includes foot-ulcer imaging data. [PDF] [BibTeX]Chuqin Huang, Emily Zheng, Wenhan Zheng, Huijuan Zhang, Yanda Cheng, Xiaoyu Zhang, Varun Shijo, Robert W. Bing, Isabel Komornicki, Linda M. Harris, Ermelinda Bonaccio, Kazuaki Takabe, Emma Zhang, Wenyao Xu, Jun Xia.
  7. SigmoidOxy: A Light-weight Mobile Perfusion Tool for Diabetic Foot Management.ACM Workshop on Wireless and Mobile Computing for AgeTech, November 2024. [PDF] [BibTeX]Alexander Gherardi, Ahmet Demirbas, Wenyao Xu.
  8. TinyMSI: A Cost-Effective Handheld Device for Non-Contact Diabetic Wound Monitoring.Smart Health, 32, article 100468, June 2024. [PDF] [BibTeX]Alexander Gherardi, Tianyu Chen, Huining Li, Jun Xia, Wenyao Xu.
  9. Dual-Scan Photoacoustic Tomography for the Imaging of Vascular Structure on Foot.IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, 70(12), 1703–1713, December 2023. [PDF] [BibTeX]Chuqin Huang, Yanda Cheng, Wenhan Zheng, Robert W. Bing, Huijuan Zhang, Isabel Komornicki, Linda M. Harris, Praveen R. Arany, Saptarshi Chakraborty, Qifa Zhou, Wenyao Xu, Jun Xia.
  10. Deep Learning Enhanced Volumetric Photoacoustic Imaging of Vasculature in Human.Advanced Science, 10(29), article 2301277, October 2023. Includes chronic foot-ulcer imaging. [PDF] [BibTeX]Wenhan Zheng, Huijuan Zhang, Chuqin Huang, Varun Shijo, Chenhan Xu, Wenyao Xu, Jun Xia.
  11. Poster Abstract: Smartphone-based Blood Perfusion Assessment for Ulcer Care.ACM Conference on Embedded Networked Sensor Systems (SenSys '22), 843–844, Boston, MA, November 2022. Best Poster Runner-up Award. [PDF] [BibTeX]Huining Li, Wenhan Zheng, Aditya Pandya, Chenhan Xu, Jun Xia, Wenyao Xu.

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