Collins Adam R, O'Connor Gerard M, Ryan Darragh A, Parmeter Molly, Dinneen Sean, Gethin Georgina
Physics, School of Natural Sciences, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland.
Cúram Research Ireland Centre for Medical Devices, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland.
Wound Repair Regen. 2025 Jul-Aug;33(4):e70072. doi: 10.1111/wrr.70072.
This study investigates the potential of wound bed temperature, measured using an IR camera, to aid in the clinical assessment of chronic wounds. The study captured thermal images from 267 patients with chronic wounds (diabetic foot ulcers, pressure ulcers, venous leg ulcers and arterial ulcers) with corresponding photographic images and clinical data. Temperature measurements were extracted from thermal images, focusing on both the centre of the wound and the surrounding periwound skin. Statistical analyses were employed to evaluate the relationship between wound temperature distribution and clinical diagnosis. The results showed a strong correlation between wound centre temperature and the average temperature across the entire wound (R = 0.977). This indicates that a single-point measurement is representative of the entire wound, simplifying wound temperature assessment. A fair correlation was found between the temperature difference between the wound and periwound and the clinician's assessment of infection status (Pearson coefficient = 0.32). The study concludes that thermal imaging holds promise as a supplementary tool for clinicians in assessing chronic wound status, especially in cases where infection is unclear. It is a low-cost, non-contact, and easy-to-use technique.
本研究调查了使用红外热像仪测量伤口床温度在辅助慢性伤口临床评估方面的潜力。该研究采集了267例慢性伤口（糖尿病足溃疡、压疮、下肢静脉溃疡和动脉溃疡）患者的热图像以及相应的照片图像和临床数据。从热图像中提取温度测量值，重点关注伤口中心和周围伤口周围皮肤。采用统计分析来评估伤口温度分布与临床诊断之间的关系。结果显示伤口中心温度与整个伤口的平均温度之间存在很强的相关性（R = 0.977）。这表明单点测量可代表整个伤口，简化了伤口温度评估。伤口与伤口周围的温差与临床医生对感染状态的评估之间存在适度相关性（皮尔逊系数 = 0.32）。该研究得出结论，热成像有望成为临床医生评估慢性伤口状况的辅助工具，尤其是在感染情况不明的病例中。它是一种低成本、非接触且易于使用的技术。
