TY - JOUR
T1 - A novel noncontact method to assess the biomechanical properties of wound tissue
AU - Chao, Clare Y.L.
AU - Zheng, Yongping
AU - Cheing, Lai Ying Gladys
PY - 2011/5/1
Y1 - 2011/5/1
N2 - A novel noncontact optical coherence tomography based air-jet indentation system was developed for characterizing the biomechanical properties of soft tissue in a noncontact way. This study aimed to measure the stiffness of diabetic foot ulcer tissues by using this air-jet indentation system, and examining the test/retest reliability. Eight subjects with diabetes (seven males, one female), with a total of 10 foot ulcers between them, participated in the study. A total of 20 measuring sites located at the central wound bed (n=10) or peri-ulcer areas (n=10), respectively, were evaluated with the air-jet indentation system. Four cycles of loading and unloading, each with a duration of approximately 36 seconds at an indentation rate of 0.08 mm/s, were carried out for each indentation trial. The test/retest reliability was examined at all measuring points. The average stiffness coefficient of the peri-ulcer area (mean±SD: 0.47±0.15N/mm) was significantly larger than that of the central wound bed area (mean±SD: 0.35±0.23N/mm; p=0.042). A high value for test/retest reliability was shown (intraclass correlation coefficient: 0.986; Pearson's correlation: r=0.972, p < 0.001). Our preliminary findings showed that the peri-ulcer area had greater stiffness than the central wound bed. This greater magnitude of hardness and inelasticity at the peri-ulcer region may scatter part of the contractile forces for wound contraction during the healing process. We found the novel air-jet system to be a reliable tool for characterizing the stiffness of soft tissues around the wound in a noncontact way.
AB - A novel noncontact optical coherence tomography based air-jet indentation system was developed for characterizing the biomechanical properties of soft tissue in a noncontact way. This study aimed to measure the stiffness of diabetic foot ulcer tissues by using this air-jet indentation system, and examining the test/retest reliability. Eight subjects with diabetes (seven males, one female), with a total of 10 foot ulcers between them, participated in the study. A total of 20 measuring sites located at the central wound bed (n=10) or peri-ulcer areas (n=10), respectively, were evaluated with the air-jet indentation system. Four cycles of loading and unloading, each with a duration of approximately 36 seconds at an indentation rate of 0.08 mm/s, were carried out for each indentation trial. The test/retest reliability was examined at all measuring points. The average stiffness coefficient of the peri-ulcer area (mean±SD: 0.47±0.15N/mm) was significantly larger than that of the central wound bed area (mean±SD: 0.35±0.23N/mm; p=0.042). A high value for test/retest reliability was shown (intraclass correlation coefficient: 0.986; Pearson's correlation: r=0.972, p < 0.001). Our preliminary findings showed that the peri-ulcer area had greater stiffness than the central wound bed. This greater magnitude of hardness and inelasticity at the peri-ulcer region may scatter part of the contractile forces for wound contraction during the healing process. We found the novel air-jet system to be a reliable tool for characterizing the stiffness of soft tissues around the wound in a noncontact way.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79955725150&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/j.1524-475X.2011.00694.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1524-475X.2011.00694.x
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 21539649
SN - 1067-1927
VL - 19
SP - 324
EP - 329
JO - Wound Repair and Regeneration
JF - Wound Repair and Regeneration
IS - 3
ER -