UA News

Researchers at The University of Arizona are predicting healing based on the shape of wounds.

Wound shape alone can be a useful predictor of wound healing outcome.

This is one of the findings a team of University of Arizona researches are reporting. The study was published in the recent edition of Wound Repair and Regeneration.

According to the UA Southern Arizona Limb Salvage Alliance, or SALSA, and La Jolla's Advanced Biohealing, the finding could help in the development of more sophisticated modes of computer-driven predictions of healing.

"We were surprised and pleased with the results of our study," said David G. Armstrong, a UA professor of surgery and director of SALSA.

Each year, millions of Americans suffer from chronic wounds; predicting their healing can be a difficult and expensive effort, with many billions of dollars spent annually toward this task.

"Very valuable and predictive data can be garnered just by looking at the shape of the wound," Armstrong said, noting that the team analyzed almost 4,000 wound tracings as part of a large, randomized clinical trial.

Armstrong said that what appears to be true is that wounds that are more round – regardless of size in most cases – heal more predictably than ones with a lot of concavities.

"Not only can this help clinicians at the bedside, but it might also help us develop better algorithms to teach hand-held computers and even cell phones to trace wounds, monitor progress and predict healing," he said. "This is extremely helpful and practical information."