September, 2005

Dear Readers,

Dr. Marco Romanelli, Section Editor for the Skin Measurement Techniques section, discusses the importance of evolving noninvasive and minimally invasive methods being applied to the assessment of acute and chronic wounds. Dr. Romanelli assembled 3 articles that discuss the following topics: 1) investigation of the effects of compression bandaging techniques on sub-bandage pressures; 2) measurement approaches in the diabetic foot to determine risk of ulceration, assessment of diabetic foot ulcers and healing, and analysis of the post-ulceration stage; and 3) comparison of burn depth assessment by clinical judgement or special colorimetry. The development of important new measurement techniques will continue due to greater interaction of clinical and engineering disciplines.

Byrne and Pons (Hyperbaric oxygen as primary treatment for ischemic foot ulcers: case report) report on a patient with ischemic foot ulcers that was treated with hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) after refusing recommended arterial reconstruction. While it is accepted that HBO remains an adjunctive rather than primary treatment for this condition, positive results were seen with this single case.

Jones et al. (Antimicrobial activity of silver-containing dressings is influenced by dressing conformability with a wound surface) utilized an in-vitro approach simulating a wound bed to determine the conformability of 2 commercial antimicrobial dressings. While both of the silver-containing products are known to have good antimicrobial activity, the dressings that conformed better to the irregular “wound bed” appeared to provide greater antimicrobial protection under the conditions of the test method.