Application of Forward-looking Infrared for the Identification and Evaluation of Fractures in the Acute Trauma Setting
Application of Forward-looking Infrared for the Identification and Evaluation of Fractures in the Acute Trauma Setting
The overall objective of this study is to (1) determine whether thermal imaging can be used during an acute trauma patient's secondary or tertiary survey to identify injury sites with an underlying fracture, and to (2) investigate whether thermal imaging can predict those patients whose fractures will result in a non-union.
Human subjects will be enrolled into the study from NYU Langone Health and Bellevue Hospital Center. When orthopaedic surgery is consulted for management of a fracture, the patient will be offered enrollment into the study. The collected data will be assigned a letter and number associated for references with the patient's age, type of fracture, and time since original injury to thermal imaging scan. If any patient receives a thermal imaging scan at their initial injury evaluation, then he or she will also receive thermal imaging scans at all follow-up appointments to track changes in temperature over the healing process. No obtunded or unresponsive patients will be enrolled into the study. The goal will be to have to thirty patients enrolled into both acute fracture and non-union arms of the proposal for a total of sixty subjects. Age, gender, ethnicity, smoking status, medical history, and surgical history will be recorded for future confounding analysis.
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria: