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Clinical Research
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An evaluation of a sheet hydrogel* on the healing of leg ulcers using high frequency diagnostic ultrasound: a pilot study Stephen R. Young, BSc, PhD, Meddexa Healthcare, Cambridge UK; Sylvie Hampton, Andy Kerr, TVCS Eastbourne, UK; Hugh Munro, First Water Ltd, Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK This poster documents a pilot study showing the efficacy of a new advanced hydrogel wound dressing in the treatment of venous leg ulcers using a novel non-invasive assessment technique, high frequency diagnostic ultrasound The new advanced gel wound dressing used in this study creates the ideal moist environment for the wound by the effective management of exudates levels. In addition to this the practitioner needs to have a sensitive, quantitative, and if possible, a non-invasive tool to assess the progress of the wound. High frequency ultrasound (20Mhz) was used to acquire detailed images of the wound bed tissue, periwound skin, and the patients ÒnormalÓ uninjured skin beyond the periwound skin zone. The images were then analysed using a pixel distribution analysis program. Using this technique it is possible to get a digital signature, which describes quantitatively the structure of the patients normal skin, periwound skin and the wound tissue. This then allows the direct comparison between the three zones. With this information it is then possible to monitor how a wound is progressing over time by showing the wound tissue becoming more like normal or less like normal, ie, is the wound healing stagnating or deteriorating. The pixel distribution analysis showed that the new advanced gel wound dressing treated wound tissue was moving towards the normal tissue structure more rapidly than that seen in the controls, indicating improved wound healing. .The study also demonstrated the efficacy of high frequency ultrasound together with pixel distribution analysis as a non-invasive means of acquiring quantitative data from wounds. In addition to this, because the wound dressing has a high water content it was possible to scan through it with the ultrasound device without the need to remove and disturb the delicate wound tissue *Cool2O Plus, First Water Ltd, Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK Hampton S. A small study in healing rates and symptom control using a new sheet hydrogel dressing. J Wound Care. 2004;13:297Ð300 Young SR, Ballard K. Wound assessment: diagnostic and assessment applications Part 2. In: Electrotherapy-Evidence based practice. London, UK: Churchill-Livingstone. 2001:308Ð312 Chen L, Dyson M, Rymer J, Bolton P, Young SR. The use of high frequency diagnostic ultrasound to investigate the effect of HRT on skin thickness. Skin Res Technol. 2001;8:..Mirpuri, N. and Young SR. The use of diagnostic ultrasound to assess the skin changes that occur during normal and hypertensive pregnancies. Skin Res Technol. 2001;7:63Ð69 |
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