title: Wound perimeter, area, and volume measurement based on laser 3D and color acquisition.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Wound measuring serves medical personnel as a tool to assess the effectiveness of a therapy and predict its outcome. Clinically used methods vary from measuring using rules and calipers to sophisticated methods, based on 3D measuring. Our method combines the added value of 3D measuring and well-known segmentation algorithms to enable volume calculation and achieve reliable and operator-independent analysis, as we demonstrate in the paper.
  
  
  METHODS
  Developed 3D measuring system is based on laser triangulation with simultaneous color acquisition. Wound shape analysis is based on the edge-determination, virtual healthy skin approximation over the wound and perimeter, area, and volume calculation. In order to validate the approach, eight operators analyzed four different wounds using proposed method. Measuring bias was assessed by comparing measured values with expected values on an artificially modeled set of wounds.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results indicate that the perimeter, area, and volume are measured with a repeatability of 2.5 mm, 12 mm(2), and 30 mm(3), respectively, and with a measuring bias of -0.2 mm, -8.6 mm(2), 24 mm(3), respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  According to the results of verification and the fact that typical wound analysis takes 20 seconds, the method for wound shape measurement can be clinically used as a precise tool for objectively monitoring the wound healing based on measuring its 3D shape and color.
authors.affiliation: University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Aškerčeva 6, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia. urban.pavlovcic@fs.uni-lj.si.
authors.forename: Urban
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Pavlovčič
authors.affiliation: University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Aškerčeva 6, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia. janez.diaci@fs.uni-lj.si.
authors.forename: Janez
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Diaci
authors.affiliation: University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Aškerčeva 6, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia. janez.mozina@fs.uni-lj.si.
authors.forename: Janez
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Možina
authors.affiliation: University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Aškerčeva 6, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia. matija.jezersek@fs.uni-lj.si.
authors.forename: Matija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jezeršek
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D000886:Anthropometry / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D003116:Color; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D007834:Lasers; D007869:Leg Injuries / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012867:Skin / Q000293:injuries; D012984:Software; D014945:Wound Healing; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult