Three-dimensional (3D) scanning of chronic leg ulcers – towards a quantitative approach to therapy

Dr Sylvia Lim, Dr Cristy Rowe, Dr Christopher Wilson, Mr David Airey 

Purpose

Chronic leg ulcers remain a substantial economic and health burden. Progress in defining optimal treatments is inhibited by the complexity of rapid, quantitative assessment of response to therapy. We demonstrate the efficacy of a three-dimensional (3D) optical scanner to track the progression of ulcers and calculate rate of healing. 

Methodology

Three dimensional scans of a lateral malleolus ulcer of a woman of 8 were obtained with the Artec EVA™ 3D scanner over 6 months. The surface area of the ulcer was measured by combining the Artec Studio 12™, and Rhino 5™ 3D software. 

Results

At first presentation, the ulcer measured 154 ±13 mm2. It initially deteriorated to reach a maximum of 209 ±7 mm2 before reducing in size to 40 ±5 mm2. The intra-class correlation between the four observers was high at 0.93. Once improvement began, the rate of ulcer healing was relatively constant, ranging 0.62-1.45 (± 0.30) mm2/day over four months.

Conclusion

3D scanning using Artec EVA shows great promise as an efficient, reliable and reproducible technique to track wound progress over time and quantify the rate of healing. This will allow more objective and responsive comparison of treatment regimes