Static thermography revisited--an adjunct method for determining the depth of the burn injury.

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between the static thermography figure of merit DeltaT (the difference in mean values of skin area temperature for the burn wound area and the unaffected reference skin area) and a means of burn classification which would be most suitable for the choice of treatment. The work was an in vivo animal experiment. Statistical analysis showed a high correlation between the DeltaT parameter and histopathological assessment. With regard to the choice of treatment, the most useful correlation was found to be that between DeltaT and the classification of burn wounds into those healed in 3 weeks and those unhealed. The results of this study have revealed a quantitative criterion DeltaT for burn classification. The study suggests that particular burn centres using static thermography use a DeltaT parameter based on their own values for burn classification so as to group burn wounds into those that healed in 3 weeks and those that did not heal. This criterion should be independent of and replace other classification systems. A criterion for the proper choice of burn treatment would then be made more readily available.