Burn patient outcomes are dependent on the surface area of the wound as percentage of total body surface area (%TBSA), burn location(s), burn depth(s), and patient age. %TBSA is essential in determining burn casualty treatment and rehabilitation. Conventional methods (Rule-of-Palm/Nines and Lund-Browder chart) may result in inaccurate %TBSA since they use a generic 2D body shape diagram to represent the human body. This fixed 2D template lacks the capability to capture 3D anthropometric variability of actual human body shapes.
To overcome this limitation, we have developed a functional burn injury assessment tool for real-time generation of 3D human body that morphs with anthropometric measurements. This virtual representation of the body is used for graphical annotations of burn areas and severity as well as assessment of %TBSA and fluid resuscitation recommendations. Given physicians generally overestimate %TBSA with current traditional methods, this tool developed may improve the accuracy of TBSA and burn area estimations, and thereby %TBSA and ultimately treatment recommendations for better patient outcome and lower risk of complications.
With the software tool, the user can enter the patient’s biographical information (name, age, gender, burn type, etc.). Switching gender automatically loads the appropriate model. The user enters any anthropometry measurements available to create the personalized 3D model in real-time, which is displayed and can be manipulated (rotate, translate and zoom).
Real-time 3D Human Body Generation
3D Human Body Generation on Android
The user can manually demarcate (add, erase) the 4 burn severities (full, deep, partial, superficial) plus amputation, distinguished by color, using a size adjustable painting tool, as well as control their visibility. A report with the absolute and relative burn surface area to the total body area and to each cutaneous functional unit (CFU) for each burn severity is calculated and displayed.
Burn Area Demarcation and Calculations
Cutaneous Functional Units
Photographic images of burned body parts can also be super-positioned onto the 3D model to trace the wounds to aid in the demarcation.
Image-Assist Burn Demarcation
Sun, K., Rossi, M., Zhou, X., et al. “Burn Injury Assessment Tool with Morphable 3D Human Body Models” Transactions of MHSRS: Military Health System Research Symposium, August 15th – 18th 2016, Orlando, FL
This project was funded by SBIR A15-055 Phase I.
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