BACKGROUND: Current wound assessment practices are lacking on
several measures. For example, the most common method for
measuring wound size is using a ruler, which has been
demonstrated to be crude and inaccurate. An increase in
periwound temperature is a classic sign of infection but skin
temperature is not always measured during wound assessments. To
address this, we have developed a smartphone application that
enables non-contact wound surface area and temperature
measurements. Here we evaluate the inter-rater reliability and
accuracy of this novel point-of-care wound assessment tool.
METHODS AND FINDINGS: The wounds of 87 patients were measured
using the Swift Wound app and a ruler. The skin surface
temperature of 37 patients was also measured using an infrared
FLIR™ camera integrated with the Swift Wound app and using the
clinically accepted reference thermometer Exergen DermaTemp
1001. Accuracy measurements were determined by assessing
differences in surface area measurements of 15 plastic wounds
between a digital planimeter of known accuracy and the Swift
Wound app. To evaluate the impact of training on the
reproducibility of the Swift Wound app measurements, three
novice raters with no wound care training, measured the length,
width and area of 12 plastic model wounds using the app. High
inter-rater reliabilities (ICC = 0.97-1.00) and high accuracies
were obtained using the Swift Wound app across raters of
different levels of training in wound care. The ruler method
also yielded reliable wound measurements (ICC = 0.92-0.97),
albeit lower than that of the Swift Wound app. Furthermore,
there was no statistical difference between the temperature
differences measured using the infrared camera and the
clinically tested reference thermometer. CONCLUSIONS: The Swift
Wound app provides highly reliable and accurate wound
measurements. The FLIR™ infrared camera integrated into the
Swift Wound app provides skin temperature readings equivalent to
the clinically tested reference thermometer. Thus, the Swift
Wound app has the advantage of being a non-contact, easy-to-use
wound measurement tool that allows clinicians to image, measure,
and track wound size and temperature from one visit to the next.
In addition, this tool may also be used by patients and their
caregivers for home monitoring.
%0 Journal Article
%1 Wang2017-ur
%A Wang, Sheila C
%A Anderson, John A E
%A Evans, Robyn
%A Woo, Kevin
%A Beland, Benjamin
%A Sasseville, Denis
%A Moreau, Linda
%D 2017
%I Public Library of Science San Francisco, CA USA
%J PLoS One
%K imported myown
%N 8
%P e0183139
%T Point-of-care wound visioning technology: Reproducibility and accuracy of a wound measurement app
%V 12
%X BACKGROUND: Current wound assessment practices are lacking on
several measures. For example, the most common method for
measuring wound size is using a ruler, which has been
demonstrated to be crude and inaccurate. An increase in
periwound temperature is a classic sign of infection but skin
temperature is not always measured during wound assessments. To
address this, we have developed a smartphone application that
enables non-contact wound surface area and temperature
measurements. Here we evaluate the inter-rater reliability and
accuracy of this novel point-of-care wound assessment tool.
METHODS AND FINDINGS: The wounds of 87 patients were measured
using the Swift Wound app and a ruler. The skin surface
temperature of 37 patients was also measured using an infrared
FLIR™ camera integrated with the Swift Wound app and using the
clinically accepted reference thermometer Exergen DermaTemp
1001. Accuracy measurements were determined by assessing
differences in surface area measurements of 15 plastic wounds
between a digital planimeter of known accuracy and the Swift
Wound app. To evaluate the impact of training on the
reproducibility of the Swift Wound app measurements, three
novice raters with no wound care training, measured the length,
width and area of 12 plastic model wounds using the app. High
inter-rater reliabilities (ICC = 0.97-1.00) and high accuracies
were obtained using the Swift Wound app across raters of
different levels of training in wound care. The ruler method
also yielded reliable wound measurements (ICC = 0.92-0.97),
albeit lower than that of the Swift Wound app. Furthermore,
there was no statistical difference between the temperature
differences measured using the infrared camera and the
clinically tested reference thermometer. CONCLUSIONS: The Swift
Wound app provides highly reliable and accurate wound
measurements. The FLIR™ infrared camera integrated into the
Swift Wound app provides skin temperature readings equivalent to
the clinically tested reference thermometer. Thus, the Swift
Wound app has the advantage of being a non-contact, easy-to-use
wound measurement tool that allows clinicians to image, measure,
and track wound size and temperature from one visit to the next.
In addition, this tool may also be used by patients and their
caregivers for home monitoring.
@article{Wang2017-ur,
abstract = {BACKGROUND: Current wound assessment practices are lacking on
several measures. For example, the most common method for
measuring wound size is using a ruler, which has been
demonstrated to be crude and inaccurate. An increase in
periwound temperature is a classic sign of infection but skin
temperature is not always measured during wound assessments. To
address this, we have developed a smartphone application that
enables non-contact wound surface area and temperature
measurements. Here we evaluate the inter-rater reliability and
accuracy of this novel point-of-care wound assessment tool.
METHODS AND FINDINGS: The wounds of 87 patients were measured
using the Swift Wound app and a ruler. The skin surface
temperature of 37 patients was also measured using an infrared
FLIR™ camera integrated with the Swift Wound app and using the
clinically accepted reference thermometer Exergen DermaTemp
1001. Accuracy measurements were determined by assessing
differences in surface area measurements of 15 plastic wounds
between a digital planimeter of known accuracy and the Swift
Wound app. To evaluate the impact of training on the
reproducibility of the Swift Wound app measurements, three
novice raters with no wound care training, measured the length,
width and area of 12 plastic model wounds using the app. High
inter-rater reliabilities (ICC = 0.97-1.00) and high accuracies
were obtained using the Swift Wound app across raters of
different levels of training in wound care. The ruler method
also yielded reliable wound measurements (ICC = 0.92-0.97),
albeit lower than that of the Swift Wound app. Furthermore,
there was no statistical difference between the temperature
differences measured using the infrared camera and the
clinically tested reference thermometer. CONCLUSIONS: The Swift
Wound app provides highly reliable and accurate wound
measurements. The FLIR™ infrared camera integrated into the
Swift Wound app provides skin temperature readings equivalent to
the clinically tested reference thermometer. Thus, the Swift
Wound app has the advantage of being a non-contact, easy-to-use
wound measurement tool that allows clinicians to image, measure,
and track wound size and temperature from one visit to the next.
In addition, this tool may also be used by patients and their
caregivers for home monitoring.},
added-at = {2021-03-04T21:51:12.000+0100},
author = {Wang, Sheila C and Anderson, John A E and Evans, Robyn and Woo, Kevin and Beland, Benjamin and Sasseville, Denis and Moreau, Linda},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/285702cd99d5b98ab37ae25dea1a4511f/janderz8},
interhash = {137404083f9133e4ab5c0aede7bc6fa7},
intrahash = {85702cd99d5b98ab37ae25dea1a4511f},
journal = {PLoS One},
keywords = {imported myown},
month = aug,
number = 8,
pages = {e0183139},
publisher = {Public Library of Science San Francisco, CA USA},
timestamp = {2021-03-04T21:54:29.000+0100},
title = {{Point-of-care wound visioning technology: Reproducibility and accuracy of a wound measurement app}},
volume = 12,
year = 2017
}