Chronic wounds impose a significant financial burden for the healthcare system. Currently, assessment and monitoring of hard-to-heal wounds are often based on visual means and measuring the size of the wound. The primary wound dressings must be removed before assessment can be done. We have developed a quasi-monopolar bioimpedance-measurement-based method and a measurement system to determine the status of wound healing. The objective of this study was to demonstrate that with an appropriate setup, long-term monitoring of wound healing from beneath the primary dressings is feasible. The developed multielectrode sensor array was applied on the wound area and left under the primary dressings for 142 h. The impedance of the wounds and the surrounding intact skin area was measured regularly during the study at 150 Hz, 300 Hz, 1 kHz, and 5 kHz frequencies. At the end of the follow-up period, the wound impedance had reached the impedance of the intact skin at the higher frequencies and increased significantly at the lowest frequencies. The measurement frequency affected the measurement sensitivity in wound monitoring. The skin impedance remained stable over the measurement period. The sensor array also enabled the administration of periodical low-intensity direct current (LIDC) stimulation in order to create an antimicrobial environment across the wound area via the controlled formation of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂).

Objective : Our group has developed a bipolar bioimpedance measurement-based method for determining the state of wound healing. The objective of this study was to assess the capability of the method. Methods : To assess the performance of the method, we arranged a follow-up study of four acute wounds. The wounds were measured using the method and photographed throughout the healing process. Results : Initially the bioimpedance of the wounds was significantly lower than the impedance of the undamaged skin, used as a baseline. Gradually, as healing progressed, the wound impedance increased and finally reached the impedance of the undamaged skin. Conclusion : The clinical appearance of the wounds examined in this study corresponded well with the parameters derived from the bioimpedance data. Significance : Hard-to-heal wounds are a significant and growing socioeconomic burden, especially in the developed countries, due to aging populations and to the increasing prevalence of various lifestyle related diseases. The assessment and the monitoring of chronic wounds are mainly based on visual inspection by medical professionals. The dressings covering the wound must be removed before assessment; this may disturb the wound healing process and significantly increases the work effort of the medical staff. There is a need for an objective and quantitative method for determining the status of a wound without removing the wound dressings. This study provided evidence of the capability of the bioimpedance based method for assessing the wound status. In the future measurements with the method should be extended to concern hard-to-heal wounds.

Evaluation of wound status is typically based on means which require the removal of dressings. These procedures are often also subjective and prone to inter-observer bias. To overcome aforementioned issues a bioimpedance measurement-based method and measurement system has been developed to evaluate the state of wound healing. The measurement system incorporated a purpose-built bioimpedance device, a measurement software and a screen-printed electrode array. The feasibility and the performance of the system and method were assessed in an open non-randomized follow-up study of seven venous ulcers. Healing of ulcers was monitored until the complete re-epithelialization was achieved. The duration of follow-up was from 19 to 106 days (mean 55.8 ± 25.2 days). A variable designated as the Wound Status Index (WSI), derived from the bioimpedance data, was used for describing the state of wound healing. The wound surface area was measured using acetate tracing for the reference. A strong correlation was found between the WSI and the acetate tracing data, r(93) = - 0.84, p < 0.001. The results indicate that the bioimpedance measurement-based method is a promising quantitative tool for the evaluation of the status of venous ulcers.

Hard-to-heal wounds are usually evaluated visually by a medical professional. Visual inspection as a method is subjective and in order to evaluate the wound the dressings have to be removed. Our group has developed a wound patch, a bioimpedance device and a PC software for mapping the wound area and to evaluate the status of wound healing. This study introduces the patch and the measurement system. We also present the test measurement results obtained using an early version of the wound patch. The results confirmed that the patch can be used for the evaluation of the wound status.

Our group has developed a quasimonopolar bioimpedance measurement-based method and a measurement system to determine the status of wound healing. So far, we have shown that the bioimpedance method is a prospective tool for assessment of wound healing by monitoring the healing of both acute wounds and venous ulcers at discrete time points. The objective of this study was to demonstrate that the method is capable for monitoring wound healing also long-term while the wound is covered by the primary dressings. For this purpose we arranged a follow-up study of a single acute wound. The purpose-built multi-electrode dressing was applied on the wound and left under the primary dressings until the complete re-epithelization was achieved. The bioimpedance of the wound and surrounding skin area was measured regularly during a 120 hours study. Based on the results, we can confirm that the method applies for long-term monitoring of acute wound healing without necessity to remove the primary dressings.