Brightshores Health System in Owen Sound is implementing new AI imaging technology to assess and treat wounds.
Director of the Office of Research and Innovation Dr. Rebecca Brookham says this new technology, designed in collaboration with other health services across the country, will assist in providing precise measurements and assessments of wounds.
“With our rural and multi-site hospital system, we have limited resources to be able to have eyes on wounds at all of the sites where the wounds appear. This technology can be put in the hands of healthcare workers at the front line, giving them a tool that is going to allow to take images or pictures, it will do a surface area and depth, and allowing a really accurate measurement of wounds,” says Brookham.
She adds this new method will be a more comfortable experience for patients, as they normally would assess wounds manually, but now they will take photos.
Brookham says to start, this technology is being implemented in the diabetic foot ulcer clinic. They do plan to use this technology across all six Brightshores Hospital sites and multiple departments.
“The wounds are typically those that struggle with chronic diseases such as diabetes. They may have a wound that they have been struggling with a number of weeks or even months that is failing to close and being able to use this technology allows you to take pictures of it over time, track its trajectory on healing. It gives some clinical guidance to help inform our decision makers when they are making those clinical decisions,” says Brookham.
She adds the new technology will also improve Brightshores’ documentation system.
Brookham says the need for this technology is to address the high volume of wounds locally and the limited number of specialists who are trained in that particular field.
“We have one specialist that assesses wounds from a nursing capability and that individual is required to travel to all six of our hospital sites,” says Brookham. “Putting this tool into the hands of all of our front line staff will allow these images to be taken right away, be sent to this wound care specialist, and that individual will be able to prioritize who needs care the soonest.”
She says this technology is being funded by DIGITAL, which supports Canadian businesses through technology, for two years. During the next two years, Brightshores will assess the technology and can afterwards decide if they want to keep it for the long term.
