Near infrared spectroscopy can accurately assess oxygen levels in wounds and help providers predict which ones will be slow to heal.
In a study of 25 wound patients — most with diabetic foot or leg ulcers — Harvard Medical School podiatrist Adam Landsman, Ph.D., was able to identify four distinct oxygenation patterns and link them to healing success.
NIRS uses reflected light to calculate perfusion according to color changes in oxygenated hemoglobin. It can capture large regions of anatomy, such as the plantar surface of the foot.
Using a contactless NIRS camera, Landsman captured the rush of oxygen toward a damaged site like a wave bringing debris to shore, then returning to the ocean.
“Eventually, the influx of blood becomes more evenly dispersed as the wound starts to progress through the healing stages,” he wrote in October’s Wounds.
Landsman detected hard-to-heal wounds that remained surrounded by hyperoxygenated tissue or had large areas with less than 40% oxygenated hemoglobin. Wounds with isolated areas below 30% did close, however, if that was less than half the wound bed.
From the November 2020 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
