SOURCE: American Podiatric Medical Association

 

BETHESDA, MD--(Marketwire - July 21, 2008) - Every 30 seconds, a lower-limb amputation is performed somewhere across the globe due to complications related to diabetes. But soon, just 15 seconds in a physician's office may be all it takes to help prevent a devastating diabetic amputation.

New research technology, named Hyperspectral Transcutaneous Oxygen Montitoring (HTcOM), effectively measures real-time oxygen levels surrounding the foot ulcerations commonly seen in patients with type 1 and 2 diabetes. The measurements taken with HTcOM are calculated in approximately 15 seconds, and can then be used to determine the most successful treatment plan for that particular wound. Two poster abstracts summarizing results from the NIH study will be presented at the American Podiatric Medical Association's (APMA) 96th Annual Scientific Meeting in Honolulu from July 24-27.

"Hyperspectral imaging will quickly become one of the most important tools physicians can use to assist diabetic patients in wound care treatment," said Aksone Nouvong, DPM, a podiatric physician involved in the study and an assistant clinical professor at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine. "One of the most important findings we have discovered while studying HTcOM is that if a patient already has an existing foot wound, this technology can tell right away whether or not the ulcer has the ability to heal on its own."

Study data on HTcOM was collected in a Phase 2 longitudinal study at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and looked at 66 type 1 and 2 diabetic subjects with at least one foot ulcer. Over six months, HTcOM was used to monitor oxygen levels at the site of the various ulcerations and accurately predicted which ulcer would heal. Interim data of 28 subjects that had completed the study after six months showed that 29 of the 36 ulcers had displayed positive healing potential after being treated based on HTcOM measurements. The positive predictive value for healing was 100 percent with this interim data cut.

According to Dr. Nouvong, the technology may begin to make its way into physicians' offices across the country after the full set of research data on HTcOM is released in September.

"Many lower-limb amputations currently being performed have to be done at an unnecessarily high level -- often because the physician has no way of knowing the exact spot at which to perform an effective amputation," Dr. Nouvong said. "A patient who might have had an entire foot amputated may be found to only need to have their big toe done after being assessed with HTcOM."

To review these studies' findings in more detail and to view other abstracts being presented at APMA's 2008 Annual Scientific Meeting, visit www.apma.org/mediaroom.

Founded in 1912, the American Podiatric Medical Association is the nation's leading professional society for foot and ankle specialists. The association has component societies in 53 locations in the U.S. and its territories and a membership of close to 11,500 doctors of podiatric medicine. For free foot health information, visit www.apma.org.