Chronic wounds pose significant challenges to both patients and healthcare systems globally. These wounds, characterized by their prolonged healing process, often lead to increased morbidity, decreased quality of life, and substantial healthcare costs. However, advancements in mobile health (mHealth) technologies offer promising avenues to improve chronic wound care significantly, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

mHealth and remote patient monitoring provide many benefits in chronic wound care, including enhancing patient engagement and self-management through educational resources and symptom trackers. As mHealth platforms can collect large volumes of patient data, including wound characteristics, and advanced analytics techniques such as machine learning algorithms, they can analyze data to identify patterns and predict healing trajectories.

Alexandra Murdoch, Senior Medical Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Potentially one of the most important benefits that mHealth and remote patient monitoring can provide is the ability to enable real-time monitoring of chronic wounds remotely. This allows for timely intervention and adjustment of treatment plans without needing frequent clinic visits.”

Healthy.io, a software development company, is collaborating with John Hopkins Hospital to pilot a smartphone-based wound care technology that aims to enhance the management of chronic diabetic wounds. The solution will allow patients to scan their wounds from home using a smartphone and the “Minuteful for Wound” app. Care teams can then use the solution for monitoring patients in real-time remotely.

The initial phase of the pilot program has shown that 36% of patients experienced a clinical improvement in wound management, and 94% found the system easy to use. Because of the positive results from the first phase, the study has expanded across the US and Canada, focusing on the effectiveness of remote wound monitoring versus traditional in-person monitoring.

According to GlobalData, the prevalence of chronic wounds in the US was 2.69% in 2023, and it is expected to rise to 2.83% by 2033. Of the 2.69% in 2023, 34.8% were classified as diabetic foot ulcers, and that number is expected to rise to 38.5% in 2033.

Murdoch concludes: “Both the prevalence of chronic wounds and diabetic foot ulcers are expected to rise in the coming years. With that in mind, finding the best possible solution for both the patient and healthcare professionals for managing wounds is important. Remote patient monitoring could be the solution we need, especially when considering factors such as rising healthcare costs and staff shortages.”