Long-term monitoring of acute wound healing from beneath the primary wound dressings

Abstract

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.