Advances in Noncontact Measurement of Wound Area Using an Application for Smart Mobile Devices

OBJECTIVE: Contactless wound size measurement is an important element for monitoring the wound healing process and the effects of treatment both in people and animals. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the metrologic performances of a contactless digital planimetry app (imitoMeasure, Imito AG) for cutaneous wound area measurement. METHODS: Precision, accuracy, agreement, and reliability of six different combinations of smart devices (smartphone or tablet), calibration modes (manual mode or marker mode), and tracing modes (manual finger tracing or digital pencil tracing) were tested and compared with the standard method on already known canine wound area shapes traced on transparent sheets. RESULTS: Using the app, all methods showed an acceptable metrologic performance. Methods using a tablet were more precise, accurate, and reliable compared with a smartphone. Calibration marker mode was faster than manual calibration. Methods using pencil tracing were more accurate than manual finger tracing, showed a higher agreement with the standard method, and needed fewer retouching-ups to obtain fine-tuning of the shape. CONCLUSIONS: This study contributed to the advancement of noncontact wound area measurement using smart digital mobile devices, identifying the most suitable method to use the imitoMeasure app in clinical and research settings. The imitoMeasure app showed excellent metrologic characteristics in contactless wound area measurement. The evidence indicates that the use of the tablet with digital pencil tracing is a noteworthy improvement in the wound measurement process.