Markerless planimetry for DFU trial endpoints: inside the imaging agent

Wound area reduction is the workhorse endpoint in DFU trials. If your measurement method drifts, your endpoint drifts. Here's how markerless planimetry holds up under trial scrutiny.

The measurement problem in wound trials

Ruler math (L × W) overestimates area by 40%+ on irregular wounds. Acetate tracings depend on rater skill. Sticker-based photo planimetry breaks when the sticker peels, curls, or sits off-plane. Every method introduces variance that eats into your effect size.

How markerless planimetry works

AI-powered wound imaging uses depth-sensing on the phone camera to compute true wound dimensions without a reference marker. Point, capture, and the agent returns:

• Wound area (cm²) via segmentation of the wound bed
• Depth and volume from the depth map
• Perimeter and longest dimensions
• Percent change vs. the prior visit

Why it holds up for endpoints

• Consistency across raters — the algorithm is the rater. A coordinator in week 1 and a PI in week 8 produce comparable numbers.
• Consistency across sites — no sticker placement technique to standardize in a site initiation visit.
• Auditable — every image is timestamped, geotagged where permitted, and attached to the signed source note.

Percent area reduction as a screening gate

Protocols that exclude wounds shrinking >20% during run-in depend on this exact calculation. The healing dashboard surfaces the number at the enrollment visit, so eligibility decisions happen in the room, not in a data query three weeks later.

Fits how the visit already runs

Capture is one action inside the same visit that produces the signed source note — no separate research-only photo session. Start free and try it on a live wound.