Biophotonic Investigation of Surgical site infectiON (BISON)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Biophotonic Investigation of Surgical site infectiON (BISON): Determining biophotonic physiological measurements associated with surgical site infection in postoperative abdominal wounds.
IRAS ID
237512
Contact name
Ewen M Harrison
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Edinburgh
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 2 months, 1 days
Research summary
BACKGROUND: Wound infections are the most common complications after surgery on the abdomen (for example bowel surgery or Caesarean sections). Up to 1 in 9 patients develop these in “high-income countries” (HIC) like the UK. In comparison, over a third of patients in “low- and middle-income countries” (LMIC) can develop these. Not only can these be painful and unpleasant for people who experience them, but these have the risk of developing into serious, potentially life-threatening infections. These can require antibiotics treatment and in-hospital stays, with an estimated increase in cost of over £5,000 for the average patient in the UK. Reducing the occurrence and harm from these infections is a important to ensure the safe delivery of surgical care. However, these can be difficult to identify at an early stage and often develop after people are discharged home.
OUR QUESTION: There is increasing interest in using “biophotonic imaging” to assess wounds aka taking images of living tissue (bio-) using different types of light (-photonic). This has the potential to pick up early signs of wound infection, before patients develop symptoms. We aim to investigate postoperative abdominal wounds using biophotonic imaging to identify changes in appearance that could be associated with sugical site infection.
REC name
Wales REC 1
REC reference
20/WA/0076
Date of REC Opinion
25 Sep 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion