A comparison of three techniques for wound area measurement

Abstract

Reduction of wound surface area has been identified as one of the important parameter of the applied therapy assessment in diabetic foot ulceration. There are some methods of wound area measurement and this paper presents the comparison of the Visitrak device, the SilhouetteMobile device and the TeleDiaFoS system. All devices were designed for such a measurements and are based on digital planimetry. Sixteen wound shapes made of adhesive film and prepared based on pictures of actual diabetic foot wounds were placed on feet of 10 volunteers and measured with all devices. The Pearson's r correlation coefficient and linear regression equation were calculated between each pair of methods. All methods are highly correlated with r equal to at least 0.97 (p<0.0001). The linear regression equations were calculated for all data (0 - 17 cm2) and in two sub-ranges: 0-2 cm2 and 2-17 cm2. These equations may be used for recalculation of results from one method into another. The use of appropriate equation according to range of value to be recalculated will provide more accurate result. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014.