Patent ID: 8812083
Filing Date: 2014-08-19
Classification: A61B,G01N

Abstract:
1. A method of determining if a wound in a human patient is healing, comprising the steps of: illuminating the wound tissue in the patient with light from a light source; measuring over time less than ten weeks one or both of the amplitude and phase shift of the light as it propagates through the wound tissue; wherein the illuminating and measuring steps are performed using a diffuse photon density wave (DPDW) device that is a continuous wave, a frequency domain, or a time domain measurement device, calculating optical absorption coefficients using the measured amplitude or phase shift of the light; quantifying the concentration of the oxygenated hemoglobin or the total hemoglobin in the wound tissue over a period of time of less than ten weeks from the optical absorption coefficients; and determining the rate of change of the oxygenated hemoglobin or total hemoglobin concentration over the period of time, wherein a negative rate of change of either the oxygenated hemoglobin or total hemoglobin indicates the wound is healing and a negligible or positive rate of change indicates the wound is not healing.