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Pilot testing of a setup for home-based self-measurement of digital ulcers
There is a great need to create mHealth tools for standardized and qualitatively high images that are specialized for digital ulcers in a long-term home-based self-assessment. We have developed a setup consisting of a smartphone holder and an app that are able to assist to take finger pictures. The goal of this project is to refine and test a setup for home-based self-assessment of digital ulcers
Keywords: digital ulcer, mHealth, pilot testing, image processing
Digital ulcers (DUs) are a visible manifestation of vascular diseases in systemic sclerosis that often appear on fingertips and bony prominences and are associated with exceptional pain which influences patients’ hand function and quality of life. DUs are slow to heal and often associated with bone infection. Therefore, the photography and documentation of DUs is essential to monitor and track the wound progression in order to help clinicians diagnose and treat patients in time.
DUs require consistent picture documentation. However, the current clinic documentation method is that clinicians take pictures with a camera only when patients visit the hospital and few specific standards for taking pictures are available, e.g. rulers as a size reference. Mobile health (mHealth) tools provide a promising technology that allows patients to do measurements by themselves at the point-of-care. There is a great need to create mHealth tools for standardized and qualitatively high images that are specialized for digital ulcers in a long-term home-based self-assessment. We have developed a setup consisting of a smartphone holder and an app that are able to assist to take finger pictures.
In this project, you will refine and test the experimental setup for reliable self-measurement digital ulcer images. Your contribution will be a corner stone for a one-year home-based self-assessment clinical trial later this year.
Digital ulcers (DUs) are a visible manifestation of vascular diseases in systemic sclerosis that often appear on fingertips and bony prominences and are associated with exceptional pain which influences patients’ hand function and quality of life. DUs are slow to heal and often associated with bone infection. Therefore, the photography and documentation of DUs is essential to monitor and track the wound progression in order to help clinicians diagnose and treat patients in time.
DUs require consistent picture documentation. However, the current clinic documentation method is that clinicians take pictures with a camera only when patients visit the hospital and few specific standards for taking pictures are available, e.g. rulers as a size reference. Mobile health (mHealth) tools provide a promising technology that allows patients to do measurements by themselves at the point-of-care. There is a great need to create mHealth tools for standardized and qualitatively high images that are specialized for digital ulcers in a long-term home-based self-assessment. We have developed a setup consisting of a smartphone holder and an app that are able to assist to take finger pictures.
In this project, you will refine and test the experimental setup for reliable self-measurement digital ulcer images. Your contribution will be a corner stone for a one-year home-based self-assessment clinical trial later this year.