Patent ID: 7945302

Claim:
A system for monitoring surface changes in a skin wound over time, the system comprising: a wound dressing including a two-dimensional array of test electrodes for application to the surface of the wound, a circuit electrically coupled to the two-dimensional array of test electrodes, the circuit for measuring an electrical characteristic of tissue immediately underlying each test electrode, said circuit comprising: a switching device for selecting successive test electrodes, and an analyser for passing an electrical alternating current between each selected test electrode and at least one further electrode applied to the skin at a location away from the wound, said analyser further calculating the electrical characteristic of the tissue immediately under each currently selected test electrode as a function of the voltage difference between the currently selected test electrode and at least one reference electrode, adjacent to the currently selected test electrode, the voltage difference being measured while passing the electrical alternating current between each currently selected test electrode and the at least one further electrode; and a display device electrically coupled to the analyser, the display device for presenting a visual map generated using analyser circuitry of said analyser, the map indicating the size and shape of the wound based upon the measured electrical characteristic.