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Thermal imaging techniques can help providers predict whether leg injuries may require additional care, according to research published in Scientific reports.
Experts estimate that up to 2% of the population will suffer from a chronic injury in their lifetime, and in the United States, such afflictions affect nearly 6.5 million patients. The final price: around $ 25 billion for the country’s health system.
But Australian researchers believe thermal imaging can determine within two weeks from a baseline scan whether venous leg ulcers will heal within three months. This can be a welcome alternative to using other digital techniques or invasive planimetric plotting, they explained.
“The significance of this work is that there is now a method to detect wounds that do not heal on the normal course by the second week using a non-contact, quick, objective and simple method”, Rajna Ogrin, PhD, researcher at Bolton Clarke Institute Senior Fellow in Australia, said Wednesday.
The approach works by sensing the spatial distribution of heat within an injury, with higher temperatures indicating potential inflammation or infection, and lower readings reflecting a slower healing rate due to decreased temperatures. oxygen levels.
After testing their technique on 60 participants with venous leg ulcers, the authors believe thermal imaging may be particularly useful for home care.
“A non-contact method like thermal imaging would be ideal to use when managing wounds at home to minimize physical contact and therefore reduce the risk of infection,” Ogrin said in the statement.
Read the full study here.
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