Both spectral imaging and histological measurements provide a consistent evaluation of burn wounds depth —A prospective, single-center, parallel design clinical study.

Background: Burn wound management is still a significant challenge, particularly in relation to the control of scar formation and contracture that lead to bodily deformity and dysfunction. Saving alive tissue as much as possible when debriding burn wounds will upkeep the tissue volume and thus promote a better tissue regeneration, external appearance, and function. Unfortunately, it is difficulty to precisely distinguish the necrotic and alive tissue by eyesight only. Therefore. a precise debridement is almost impossible to perform. Several strategies focusing on an objective evaluation of burn depth according to the wound's local circulation have been developed. However, s none of them directly evaluates the burn depth that is critical for a precise debridement as well as for a better regeneration of the wound. Herein, we show that our invented near-infrared spectral imaging device and its technology are promising tools allowing to measure the necrotic tissue thickness in burn wounds.