Image Features of LSCI and Thermography for Determining the Risk Factor (0,1,2 and 3) of Developing Diabetic Foot Ulcer

Overview

Diabetic foot ulcers are one of the complications of diabetes mellitus. These wounds are often the result of diabetes-related neuropathy and/or an ischemic foot. Even with great care, recurrent ulcers are common. To mediate the damage and societal costs that come with DF there is a need for applications to detect ulcers before they come apparent. Two of these promising techniques are Laser Speckle Contrast imaging and thermography. This study is part of 4 specific clinical studies and is aimed at determining Laser Speckle Contrast imaging and thermography features, the provocations that are needed to optimize imaging and the correlation between these features and the IWGDF risk stratification category system for the diabetic foot.

Diabetic foot ulcers are one of the complications of diabetes mellitus. These wounds are often the result of diabetes-related neuropathy and/or an ischemic foot. Diabetic feet (DF) are ideally treated by a multidisciplinary wound care team. Patients at high risk and especially patients that suffer from DF before will have to be checked regularly for new wounds. Even with great care, recurrent ulcers are common. To mediate the damage and societal costs that come with DF there is a need for applications to detect ulcers before they come apparent. To improve care, an application to predict the healing status is desired. To this purpose, a set of four (4) specific clinical studies has been conceived to tackle the overall challenging objectives to characterise the risk of ulcers in different patients and through different measurement conditions, including conditions of how a tele-home care service can be deployed. This is clinical study A. This study investigates two techniques: Laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) is a promising non-invasive technique to assess microcirculation. LSCI, exploits the random speckle pattern that is generated when tissue is illuminated by laser light and changes when blood cells move in the sampled tissue. Thermography is used to measure temperature distribution on the foot. It is expected that soon-to-be affected regions will be warmer than other regions. Also, regions with impaired blood supply can be recognized. Clinical study A aims at determining Laser Speckle Contrast imaging and thermography features, the provocations that are needed to optimize imaging, and the correlation between these features and the IWGDF risk stratification category system for the diabetic foot.