Low intensity pulsed ultrasound to treat chronic wounds caused by DTI in prosthetic wearers

伤口愈合本身已经被很好地理解，然而，与假体佩戴者深部组织损伤相关的进化和进展途径却不太明确。同时，由于缺乏可用的治疗方法，DTI和潜在的慢性伤口发展对个体的影响加剧，建议主要是严重影响移动性和独立性的方法。超声成像在软组织成像方面具有独特的能力，具有足够的灵敏度，可以准确区分组织边界甚至肌肉纤维方向。超声波在组织内作为粘弹性介质传播的依赖性意味着组织刚度信息也很容易恢复，使用弹性成像（应变）或剪切波成像。在未来，超声成像有望在检测早期组织显微结构改变方面发挥重要作用，表明DTI的发生和存在。本研究以实验医学影像学、软组织力学、计算模型和下肢假肢窝设计等方面的现有学术和临床专业知识为基础，探讨通过了解深部组织损伤的演变来改进窝设计的可行性。该项目将开发技术，利用新兴的柔性超声技术，能够通过可穿戴贴片提供脉冲超声。拟议的博士研究与该CDT的健康工程战略非常一致，并且与斯特拉斯克莱德大学的战略活动非常吻合。拟议的博士研究旨在产生一个知识库，该知识库将在创新医疗解决方案的发展中发挥重要作用，这些解决方案对于维持老龄化的英国社会的生活质量至关重要。此外，该前瞻性项目属于预防性医疗保健领域，有可能降低NHS紧张的财政资源的成本，并促进早期和准确的有针对性的治疗，预防伤害。

Project Description Wound healing itself is relatively well understood, however the evolution and progression pathway associated with deep tissue injury in prosthesis wearers, is less well defined. Meanwhile the impact of DTI and potential chronic wound development on the individual is heightened by an absence of available treatments, with advice dominated by approaches that severely impact mobility and independence. Ultrasound imaging is unique in its ability to image the soft tissues, with sufficient sensitivity to accurately distinguish tissue boundaries and even muscle fibre orientation. The dependence of ultrasound wave propagation within tissue as a viscoelastic medium means that tissue stiffness information is also readily recovered, using either elastography (strain) or shear wave imaging. In the future it is expected that ultrasound imaging will play an important role in detecting early-stage alterations in tissue microsctructure indicative of DTI initiation and existence. The proposed work builds upon existing academic and clinical expertise in experimental medical imaging, soft tissue mechanics, computational modelling and lower limb prosthetic socket design to investigate the feasibility of enhancing socket design by understanding the evolution of Deep Tissue Injury. The project will develop techniques that will utilise newly emerging flexible ultrasound technologies capable of delivering pulsed-ultrasound through a wearable patch. The proposed PhD research is well aligned with the health engineering strategy of this CDT and fits well with the strategic activities within the University of Strathclyde. The proposed PhD research aims to generate a knowledge base that will play an important role in the development of innovative medical solutions that are becoming critical to sustain the quality of life of an aging UK society. Additionally, the prospective project is within the preventive healthcare domain and has the potential to allow for cost reduction in stretched financial resources of NHS and promotes earlier and accurate targeted treatment with prevention of injury.