CIE Components in Electronics
Eykona, a medical technology firm based in Oxford has developed a portable 3D imaging camera that is being used in the field by British troops in Camp Bastion, Afghanistan to assess the nature of war wounds received by soldiers. The device is also being used closer to home at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham where military casualties are treated.
The camera has been designed to build a three dimensional image of a wound and utilises specially-designed software to measure the size and depth of the trauma with extreme accuracy. Through the 3D models created, medics are able to use definitive evidence to assess fresh wounds and also to understand if and how the wound is healing, allowing them to adjust the treatment plan accordingly and with far more efficiency than ever before.
The system was conceived by Professor Ron Daniel and Dr James Paterson to replace antiquated methods currently relied on in wound care.
According to Eykona the device makes pivotal measurements with far more speed, consistency and accuracy than currently possible in hospitals.
The camera took eight years of research and development to perfect and creates a detailed 3D model of any wound or scar from which accurate measurements of distance, area, colour, width or volume can be made and using the Eykona rendering software the 3D model can be assessed from all angles and even shared with other doctors and clinicians through server or cloud-based hosting.
The camera uses small sterile ‘targets’ to set the focus and position of the camera. This eliminates inconsistency between images and can be used by any health care professional without the need for extensive or costly training.
The use of 3D models will enable clinicians to use definitive evidence to understand if and how the wound is healing, allowing them to adjust the treatment plan efficiently. Until now, the colour and texture of wounds has been measured with the naked eye and recorded with hand written notes. The Eykona system changes this by successfully reproducing colour accurately and consistently, then allowing colour change to be recorded over time giving valuable information on the status of the tissues in the wound bed.
Commenting Dr James Paterson, one of the inventors of the Eykona 3D imaging device said: “Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are designed to inflict complex wounds on victims. It is therefore of the utmost importance for medical personnel to be able to understand the exact nature of these wounds so as to properly determine the sort of therapy required to treat them. Furthermore, apart from wounds received directly from IEDs, recovering military personnel may also develop ulcerations from paralysis or prosthetic limb use, all of which require long term wound care and Eykona’s technology can assist with the evaluation of these wounds.”
