Measuring wound healing
Inventors
Kekonen, Atte • Bergelin, Mikael • Eriksson, Jan-Erik • Johansson, Max
Assignees
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Publication Number
US-11890106-B2
Publication Date
2024-02-06
Expiration Date
Abstract
According to an example aspect of the present invention, there is provided method for measuring wound healing, comprising, measuring a wound impedance by a first tetrapolar arrangement of electrodes arranged on both sides of a wound, measuring a reference impedance by a second tetrapolar arrangement of electrodes arranged on one side of the wound, determining, by a controller, wound healing on the basis of the wound impedance and the reference impedance measured over a frequency range.
Core Innovation
The invention provides a method for measuring wound healing using bioimpedance by measuring a wound transfer impedance with a first tetrapolar arrangement of electrodes arranged on both sides of a wound. The first tetrapolar arrangement comprises two current feeding electrodes and two voltage sensing electrodes, and measuring comprises applying an excitation signal and measuring an impedance based on a voltage difference induced by the excitation signal, over a frequency range.
In parallel, a reference transfer impedance is measured using a second tetrapolar arrangement of electrodes arranged on one side of the wound. The second tetrapolar arrangement also comprises two current feeding electrodes and two voltage sensing electrodes, and measuring is performed over the same frequency range.
A controller determines at least one level of the wound healing on the basis of a ratio between the wound transfer impedance and the reference transfer impedance and a change of said ratio over at least part of the frequency range, wherein the change of said ratio meets a predefined threshold. The approach is described as reducing sensitivity to superficial and electrode effects by using tetrapolar transfer impedance.
Claims Coverage
The independent claims cover three main aspects: a method for measuring wound healing using wound and reference transfer impedances with tetrapolar electrode arrangements, a corresponding arrangement including electrodes and a controller, and a processor and memory device for implementing the method. The claims include 3 inventive features centered on ratio-based wound healing determination, tetrapolar measurement on both sides of the wound, and tetrapolar reference measurement on one side of the wound.
Frequency-domain wound healing determination from ratio and thresholded change
Determining at least one level of the wound healing on the basis of a ratio between the wound transfer impedance and the reference transfer impedance and a change of said ratio over at least part of the frequency range, wherein the change of said ratio meets a predefined threshold.
Wound transfer impedance measurement with first tetrapolar arrangement on both sides
Measuring a wound transfer impedance by a first tetrapolar arrangement of electrodes arranged on both sides of a wound, wherein the first tetrapolar arrangement comprises two current feeding electrodes and two voltage sensing electrodes, wherein measuring comprises applying an excitation signal and measuring an impedance based on a voltage difference induced by the excitation signal.
Reference transfer impedance measurement with second tetrapolar arrangement on one side
Measuring a reference transfer impedance by a second tetrapolar arrangement of electrodes arranged on one side of the wound, wherein the second tetrapolar arrangement comprises two current feeding electrodes and two voltage sensing electrodes, wherein measuring comprises applying an excitation signal and measuring an impedance based on a voltage difference induced by the excitation signal.
Across the independent claims, the core coverage is the combined measurement of a wound transfer impedance and a reference transfer impedance using two tetrapolar arrangements, followed by determination of wound healing from a ratio of impedances and a thresholded change of that ratio over a frequency range.
Stated Advantages
Reduces sensitivity to superficial and electrode effects by using tetrapolar transfer impedance.
Documented Applications
Assessment of wound healing using bioimpedance with frequency-domain transfer impedance measurements and ratio-based determination across a frequency range.
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