Researchers at Drexel University’s School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems have developed a breakthrough device that can predict how a wound might heal.
The diffuse near-infrared spectroscopy device evaluates the oxygenated and deoxygenated haemoglobin level within and under a wound and compares it with a control / non-wound site of the same patient.
Diffuse near-infrared spectroscopy measures optical absorption and scattering coefficients of the tissue and allows it to be non-invasively analysed.
The device is controlled by software from a computer and can move easily from patient to patient in a busy clinical setting taking measurements at any spot within or around the wound within seconds.
The prototype device, which has been in development for several years, is a fast quantitative method for characterising diabetic and pressure ulcers and the ischemic tissue can be quantitatively assessed in a broad variety of clinical applications.
The project has been funded through Coulter Foundation Translational Research and the QED programme of the University City Science Center.
