Prevención y promoción de la salud de heridas mediante el uso ambulatorio de la termografía portátil. Estudio piloto / Prevention and promotion of wound health through the ambulatory use of portable thermography. Pilot study

Introducción y objetivo: Las heridas crónicas requieren seguimiento continuo para evaluación y prevención de complicaciones. Esta evaluación es subjetiva, sujeta a errores y consume mucho tiempo y dinero para pacientes y salud pública. Proponemos utilizar modelos tridimensionales y termográficos que complementan la evaluación de heridas. Material y método: Estudio piloto en 6 casos en donde se propone la creación de modelos tridimensionales termográficos a partir de imágenes obtenidas con dispositivos portátiles de bajo costo. Resultados: Muestran patrones de diferencias de temperaturas que parecen relacionarse con el comportamiento del área de esta herida. Conclusiones: Observamos la utilidad de una herramienta de visualización de bajo costo e indicadores objetivos cuantitativos y cualitativos de la evolución de heridas, así como la posibilidad de realizar la monitorización en zonas remotas en donde hay falta de especialistas, ya que al proveer métricas, ayudaría en su seguimiento y evaluación.(AU)

Background and objective: Chronic wounds require regular monitoring for evaluation and prevention of complications. Such assessment remains subjective, prone to error, and it is often a time-consuming and costly process for patients and public health. We propose to use three-dimensional thermographic models that can complement wound assessment. Methods: A pilot study in 6 participants where three-dimensional thermographic models were created from images obtained with low-cost portable devices. Results: The results show patterns of temperature differences that seem to be related to the behavior of the wound area. Conclusions: We observe its usefulness in providing a low-cost visualization tool and objective quantitative and qualitative indicators of the evolution of wounds, as well as the possibility of monitoring in remote areas where there is a lack of specialists, since by providing metrics, it would help in their monitoring and evaluation.(AU)

Wound Size Imaging: Ready for Smart Assessment and Monitoring.

Significance: We introduce and evaluate emerging devices and modalities for wound size imaging and also promising image processing tools for smart wound assessment and monitoring. Recent Advances: Some commercial devices are available for optical wound assessment but with limited possibilities compared to the power of multimodal imaging. With new low-cost devices and machine learning, wound assessment has become more robust and accurate. Wound size imaging not only provides area and volume but also the proportion of each tissue on the wound bed. Near-infrared and thermal spectral bands also enhance the classical visual assessment. Critical Issues: The ability to embed advanced imaging technology in portable devices such as smartphones and tablets with tissue analysis software tools will significantly improve wound care. As wound care and measurement are performed by nurses, the equipment needs to remain user-friendly, enable quick measurements, provide advanced monitoring, and be connected to the patient data management system. Future Directions: Combining several image modalities and machine learning, optical wound assessment will be smart enough to enable real wound monitoring, to provide clinicians with relevant indications to adapt the treatments and to improve healing rates and speed. Sharing the wound care histories of a number of patients on databases and through telemedicine practice could induce a better knowledge of the healing process and thus a better efficiency when the recorded clinical experience has been converted into knowledge through deep learning.