Accurate assessment of burn depth and surface area are important to clinical decision-making regarding treatment. Initial assessment determines fluid requirements and transportation decisions to distant-care facilities. The clinician must determine if the wound will heal itself or whether excision and grafting are necessary for optimal wound healing. The standard of care remains visual inspection which is both subjective and highly variable. In the absence of an experienced burn specialist, it is critical to have tools capable of quantitative assessment of burn severity and extent as well as healing progress. There is a compelling DoD need for a portable, non-contact imaging device that can be easily used for burn assessment by clinicians in the field. The device must image a large area (i.e. limb) and account for surface curvature, lighting, motion, and variation in skin architecture/tone. Usability of the device is paramount so that a non-expert with minimal training can implement it quickly. Bodkin Design & Engineering, LLC (BD&E) and our partner, ShrinerÂ’s Hospital for Children-Boston, propose to demonstrate a portable tablet display, which when held over the patientÂ’s wound, quantitatively assesses oxygenated and de-oxygenated hemoglobin, tissue oxygenation, burn depth, and surface area with real-time display maps.
