Acute discrimination between superficial-partial and deep-partial thickness burns in a preclinical model with laser speckle imaging. Issue 5 (August 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Crouzet, Christian; Nguyen, John Quan; Ponticorvo, Adrien; Bernal, Nicole P.; Durkin, Anthony J.; Choi, Bernard
• Is Part Of: Burns. Volume 41:Issue 5(2015)
• Page Start: 1058
• Page End: 1063
• Publication Date: 2015-08
• Subjects: Laser speckle imaging -- Preclinical model -- Superficial-partial thickness -- Deep-partial thickness -- Burn wounds; Burns and scalds -- Periodicals; 617.11
• DOI: 10.1016/j.burns.2014.11.018
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0305-4179

Abstract

Highlights: We characterized laser speckle imaging (LSI) in a preclinical burn wound model. LSI obtained blood-flow information of superficial-partial and deep-partial thickness burn wounds. Blood-flow of superficial-partial and deep-partial burns differed significantly. Results suggest the use of LSI to clinically evaluating burn wounds. Abstract: A critical need exists for a robust method that enables early discrimination between superficial-partial and deep-partial thickness burn wounds. In this study, we report on the use of laser speckle imaging (LSI), a simple, non-invasive, optical imaging modality, to measure acute blood flow dynamics in a preclinical burn model. We used a heated brass comb to induce burns of varying severity to nine rats and collected raw speckle reflectance images over the course of three hours after burn. We induced a total of 12 superficial-partial and 18 deep-partial thickness burn wounds. At 3 h after burn we observed a 28% and 44% decrease in measured blood flow for superficial-partial and deep-partial thickness burns, respectively, and that these reductions were significantly different ( p = 0.00007). This preliminary data suggests the potential role of LSI in the clinical management of burn wounds.