Abstract
Purpose: In order to determine the amount of wound healing, objective sequential assessments of changes in wound size and depth are essential. Although a variety of measurements for wound healing have been proposed, a gold standard for quantifying day-to-day changes in healing has not been established. We present here a simple and non-invasive wound measurement method that quantitatively and accurately documents changes of the size of a raw surface and the volume of a soft tissue defect using a stereoimage optical topometer(SOT) system. Methods: Using a 5mm diameter biopsy punch, four circular wounds were created on abdominal area of a diabetic mouse. Photographs were taken using SOT system at baseline, 5th day and 10th postoperative day. The wound margin was traced on a digitalized photo and evaluated the area and the volume of the wound by SOT system. Results: The SOT system calculated a mean wound surface of $15.93{\pm}0.29mm^2$ and volume of $827.50{\pm}88.86$ intensity/pixel${\times}$area(I/PA) immediately after wounding. On the 5th day after the operation wound surface declined by $10.73mm^2$ and on the 10th day declined by $5.95mm^2$. The wound volume also declined from 827.50 I/PA to 161.75 I/PA and 30.50 I/PA on 0, 5th and 10th day, respectively. Conclusion: The SOT system described in this study represents a reliable, simple, practical, and non-invasive technique to accurately monitor and evaluate wound healing.
