Measurement of burn depth in skin
AssigneeThe General Hospital Corporation
InventorsHoward A. Green, John A. Parrish, Richard R. Anderson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for distinguishing between a full thickness and a partial thickness skin burn in a patient having a skin burn. The methods includes administering a fluorescent compound, which is excited by infrared light, to the patient to cause the compound to enter one or more capillaries below and adjacent the skin burn. The compound is then excited with infrared light, and the amount of fluorescence of the compound caused by the infrared light detected at the skin burn and at unburned skin adjacent the skin burn. The ratio of fluorescence detected at the skin burn and at the unburned skin is an indication of the thickness of the skin burn, e.g., a ratio of less than 0.4 indicates a full thickness skin burn.
Claims14
A method for determining the thickness of a skin burn in a a patient, comprising the steps of:
- administering a first fluorescent compound, which is excitable by infrared light, to said patient to cause said administered compound to enter one or more capillaries below and adjacent the skin burn;
- exciting said administered compound with infrared light;
- and
- detecting the amount of fluorescence of said excited compound caused by said infrared light at the skin burn and at unburned skin adjacent the skin burn;
- and calculating a ratio of the amount of fluorescence detected at the skin burn to the amount of fluorescence detected at the unburned skin as an indication of the thickness of the skin burn.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.