Smartphone-driven extraction of three-dimensional structure for accessible and standardized assessment of chronic wounds

In spite of the need for accurate measurements and documentation, which can inform optimal treatment strategies, existing methods for wound assessment have been repeatedly noted to be inconsistent and imprecise, resulting in negative patient outcomes. Backed by insights gathered from interviews with medical professionals, we focused on developing a solution which exploits the benefits of mobile technology, including its built-in features, scalability, and accessibility, to enable the non-invasive scanning of wounds. We constructed an intuitive, mobile application which employs vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) in a structured light system to generate dense point clouds. Our application, with reference to commercial scanners, demonstrates sub-millimeter accuracy in regions-of-interest, and achieves the highest agreement scores and color consistencies among tested applications, despite uniquely rendering structures in real-time. The solution we designed is anticipated to tangibly benefit affected individuals, as well as encourage increased collaboration and clinical research based on the availability of cross-verifiable data.