Prediction of venous wound healing with laser speckle imaging

INTRODUCTION: Laser speckle imaging is used for noninvasive assessment of blood flow of cutaneous wounds. The aim of this study was to assess if laser speckle imaging can be used as a predictor of venous ulcer healing. METHODS: After generating the flux speckle images, three regions of interest (ROI) were identified to measure the flow. Sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, and positive predictive value for ulcer healing were calculated. RESULTS: In total, 17 limbs were included. A sensitivity of 92.3%, specificity of 75.0%, PPV of 80.0%, and NPV 75.0% were found in predicting wound healing based on laser speckle images. Mean flux values were lowest in the center (ROI I) and showed an increase at the wound edge (ROI II, p = 0.03). CONCLUSION: Laser speckle imaging shows acceptable sensitivity and specificity rates in predicting venous ulcer healing. The wound edge proved to be the best probability for the prediction of wound healing.