Three-dimensional wound mapping software compared to expert opinion in determining wound area.

Area of Science:

• Medical Technology
• Burn Management
• Wound Assessment

Background:

• Accurate total body surface area (TBSA) burn estimation is critical for fluid resuscitation and preventing complications.
• Current TBSA estimation methods lack a universally accepted gold standard.
• New technologies are continuously evaluated for burn wound and scar assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare TBSA% burn estimation using a 3D camera (Panasonic FZ-M1 Toughpad with WoundCare Lite) against expert opinion.
• To evaluate the accuracy and reliability of a novel 3D photographic method for burn assessment.

Main Methods:

• Two life-sized mannequins (adult and child) were used to simulate realistic burn patterns.
• Burns were measured using the 3D camera system before expert assessment.
• Burns doctors estimated the TBSA% for 10 adult and 8 child simulated burns.

Main Results:

• The 3D camera system estimated burn sizes ranging from 0.42% to 18.23% TBSA.
• Burn TBSA assessments between the 3D camera and specialist opinions showed excellent agreement (ICC = 0.985).
• A median of 3 assessors evaluated each burn, with a range of 2 to 8 assessors.

Conclusions:

• The WoundCare Lite software with the Panasonic FZ-M1 Toughpad 3D camera demonstrates strong concordance with expert burn TBSA% estimation on mannequins.
• Further research is required to validate this 3D imaging technology for acute burn assessment in patients.