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AI-powered system can predict healing of venous leg ulcers
A thermal imaging device designed to screen for chronic wounds could allow nurses to identify these difficult-to-heal wounds during the initial examination of a person at home. Almost half a million Australians live with chronic wounds, which severely impact their quality of life and cost the country's healthcare system around $3 billion each year. The latest innovation from researchers at RMIT University and Bolton Clarke Research Institute builds on their team's work published last year, which enabled the identification of chronic leg ulcers in the second week after baseline assessment. Their latest published results allow the identification of these wounds a...
AI-powered system can predict healing of venous leg ulcers
A thermal imaging device designed to screen for chronic wounds could allow nurses to identify these difficult-to-heal wounds during the initial examination of a person at home.
Almost half a million Australians live with chronic wounds, which severely impact their quality of life and cost the country's healthcare system around $3 billion each year.
The latest innovation from researchers at RMIT University and Bolton Clarke Research Institute builds on their team's work published last year, which enabled the identification of chronic leg ulcers in the second week after baseline assessment.
Their latest published results allow these wounds to be identified a week earlier and represent a significant leap forward, the team says.
Lead researcher Professor Dinesh Kumar said their latest clinical study, published in the Nature journal Scientific Reports, presents an AI-powered system to predict how leg ulcers will heal based on thermal images from the initial assessment.
Our new work identifying chronic leg wounds at the first visit is a world first. This means specialist treatment for slow-healing leg ulcers can begin up to four weeks earlier than the current gold standard.”
Professor Dinesh Kumar, RMIT School of Engineering
Co-researcher, Dr. RMIT's Quoc Cuong Ngo said while thermal imaging had previously been considered for detecting chronic wounds, the team's methods enabled significantly earlier detection than other approaches studied.
“Our innovation is not sensitive to changes in ambient temperature and light, making it effective for caregivers during their regular home visits.
“It is also effective in tropical environments, not just here in Melbourne.”
How the innovation works
The new method provides information about the spatial distribution of heat in a wound and predicts with 78% accuracy whether leg ulcers would heal in 12 weeks without specialized treatment.
Wounds change significantly as they heal - higher temperatures indicate possible inflammation or infection, while lower temperatures may indicate a slower healing rate due to reduced oxygen in the area.
The research was based on thermal images collected from 56 customers with venous leg ulcers, a type of ulcer associated with poor vein function. This type of ulcer is the most common chronic wound in Australia.
The current gold standard approach requires wound size to be recorded after four weeks, which involves physical contact with the wound, delaying identification of slow-healing wounds.
Dr. Bolton Clarke Research Institute senior researcher Rajna Ogrin said the non-contact method reduces the risk of infection by minimizing physical contact.
“Clinical care is provided in many different locations, including specialist clinics, general practices and in people’s homes,” she said.
“This method provides a rapid, objective, non-invasive method for determining the healing potential of chronic leg wounds that can be used by healthcare providers regardless of the setting.
“This means specialized treatments, including advanced wound cleansing techniques and therapies, can be provided immediately for problematic leg wounds – up to four weeks earlier than the current gold standard.”
Next Steps
Kumar said now that the method has been successfully demonstrated in controlled trials with partner clinicians, the next step is to adapt it so that busy nurses or doctors have this thermal imaging and quick assessment feature on their mobile phones.
“With the funding we received from the Medical Research Future Fund, we are now working towards this,” he said.
“We are keen to work with potential partners with diverse expertise to help us achieve this goal over the next few years.”
The team will also assess whether their method can predict healing of diabetes-related foot ulcers. Untreated chronic wounds in diabetics are the most common cause of limb amputations in Western countries.
Source:
Reference:
Ngo, QC, et al. (2022) Computer-aided prediction of healing in venous leg ulcers. Scientific reports. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-20835-y.
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