Abstract
Quantitative assessment of wound progression is critical for informed clinical decision-making. Traditional methods of measuring wound size rely on rulers and two-dimensional images and are limited by subjectivity and inaccuracy. Three-dimensional (3D) technology offers an alternative for wound measurement. This study presents our software designed to capture complex wound measurements from 3D scans. The software calculates each wound measurement (i.e., length, width, depth, perimeter, and area) as direct and surface. Direct measurements are straight point-to-point measurements, while surface measurements are taken along the non-parametric wound surface geometry. In this study, we investigated the utility of direct and surface measurements for detecting wound size progression in simulated 3D wound models. Twenty-three healthcare providers measured the direct and surface length, width, depth, perimeter, and area of six simulated wounds. Statistical analyses comparing the direct and surface measurements were conducted using ordinary least squares regression, Spearman's correlation coefficient, and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. All measurements were strongly correlated with wound size progression. However, surface length, width, and area measurements detected greater changes in wound size than the corresponding direct measurements. Statistically significant differences were found in percentage reductions between direct and surface measurements of length, width, depth, and area across the simulated wound progression (p<.001). Surface measurements may provide more rapid detection of wound size progression to ensure timely and effective treatment interventions.