Ms Helen Dejong^1,2,3, Mr Steven Abbott⁵, Ms Marilyn Zelesco⁵, Dr Brendan Kennedy^3,4, Dr Lisa Martin⁶, Prof  Melanie Ziman², Prof Fiona Wood^6,7

¹Perth Scar And Pain Clinic , Mt Pleasant, Australia, ²Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Australia, ³BRITElab, Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, Nedlands, Australia, ⁴Department of Electrical, Electronic & Computer Engineering, School of Engineering,The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia, ⁵Department of Medical Imaging, Fiona Stanley Hospital, Murdoch, Australia, ⁶Fiona Wood Foundation, Murdoch, Australia, ⁷State Burn Service of Western Australia, Murdoch, Australia

Abstract:

Shear-wave elastography (SWE) is an emerging imaging technology that provides quantitative assessment of tissue stiffness in-vivo. Based on ultrasound, SWE has been used to quantify stiffness associated with disease in the liver, breast, prostate and thyroid. This research aims to evaluate the validity and reliability of using SWE to objectively evaluate the stiffness of skin, burn scars and the associated non-injured subcutaneous tissues.

This prospective, cross sectional study evaluated adult burn patients with a healed partial thickness burn, at least 6 weeks post injury. Each participant had up to three scar sites of varying stiffness, and three matched, contralateral non-injured skin sites assessed with SWE, B-mode ultrasound and the POSAS.

Preliminary results (n=31 scars) indicate that SWE can quantify both the degree and extent of scar stiffness. Scar tissue demonstrated a higher average shear wave speed compared to non-injured skin. A novel trend was found indicating that increasing scar stiffness is also associated with a greater depth of stiffness. This stiffness extends into the non-injured subcutaneous adipose tissue, and in some cases to the peri-muscular fascia. Tests of validity and reliability were also performed.

Our results show that SWE provides a novel method with which to quantify both the degree and extent of increased tissue stiffness associated with a burn scar. Imaging both the scar and the surrounding non-injured subcutaneous tissues provides novel information regarding changes in mechanical properties of tissues associated with a burn.

Biography:

Helen has been a clinical occupational therapist for over 20 years, working in Burns, upper limb trauma, neurology and chronic pain. She is currently doing her PhD titled the Mechanobiology of Scarring, and runs a private practice called the Perth Scar and Pain Clinic.