Clinical Validation of Two New Planimetric Techniques for Measuring Ulcer Surface Area

Abstract

Background:

As a standalone parameter, the wound surface area can be used to describe a wound in medical records; however, changes in the wound surface area over time can be used in chronic wounds to assess treatment efficacy and predict successful healing. Recent technological advances in mobile devices and artificial intelligence algorithms have enabled the development of new methods for measuring the surface area of wounds. These new methods require clinical validation or comparison with previously used methods.

Methods:

Wound surface areas were measured with the Planimator app (PA), Silhouette Mobile device (SMD), and AutoPlanimator service (APS) in 77 patients from the outpatient clinic. One hundred forty-two ulcers were measured. The Passing-Bablok regression analysis was used to assess differences between each pair of methods used.

Results and Conclusion:

There were significant differences in proportional differences between two pairs of methods, ie, between the SMD and the PA and between the SMD and the APS. The Passing-Bablok regression analysis revealed the regression equation APS = −0.0145 + 0.987PA for the APS and the PA. There were nonsignificant differences between systematic and proportional differences for the PA and the APS; thus, the inequality between the APS and the PA cannot be confirmed and the two methods can be interchangeably used, which cannot be concluded for the SMD and the APS or the SMD and the PA. This study confirmed that the PA and the APS can be valuable tools in assessing the healing progress of chronic wounds.