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<\/a><\/p>\nProfessor Michael Crichton, who is based in the school of engineering and physical sciences, said the technology \u201crepresents a fundamental shift in how we approach eczema management\u201d.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cRather than relying solely on visual assessments, which haven\u2019t evolved in decades and can be particularly unreliable for patients with darker skin tones, our sensor provides objective measurements of what\u2019s happening beneath the skin\u2019s surface.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr Connor Bain, who is on the technical engineering of the technology, explained: \u201cBy measuring the elasticity and viscoelasticity of each skin layer, we can detect changes in tissue stiffness and fluid content that indicate inflammation and disease progression.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis allows healthcare professionals to make data-driven decisions about treatment effectiveness much earlier in the patient journey, potentially reducing the years of suffering many patients endure while trying to find the right treatment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat makes our approach particularly powerful is that it works equally well on all skin tones, avoiding the biases that can be common in visual assessments where parameters like redness are difficult to assess on darker skin. This could help address the well-documented healthcare disparities patients experience in dermatological care.\u201d<\/p>\n
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It is hoped the device will help improve treatment options (Heriot-Watt University\/PA) <\/p>\n
Heriot-Watt University said the sensor addresses a \u201ccritical gap\u201d in eczema and psoriasis treatment\u201d where patients currently face a \u201clengthy and frustrating cycle of trial and error with various creams and medications\u201d.<\/p>\n
Eczema, also called atopic dermatitis, affects up to 20% of children and 10% of adults in the UK.<\/p>\n
The research team will now begin testing the sensor on patients with moderate eczema who are undergoing third or fourth-line treatments.<\/p>\n
They will also gather feedback from patients and clinicians on its usability.<\/p>\n
Professor Richard Weller, dermatology lead for NHS Research Scotland and a University of Edinburgh academic\u00a0based at the Institute for Regeneration and Repair, explained: \u201cThe current system for managing eczema is outdated and inefficient.<\/p>\n
\u201cPatients typically go through multiple cycles of treatment with increasingly potent and expensive medications, waiting weeks or months to see if each one works.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout objective measures, we\u2019re often making treatment decisions based on visual inspection alone, which can be very subjective.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis technology has the potential to transform that process by providing quantitative data that can help us identify effective treatments much faster.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could enable high-quality dermatological care to be delivered in community settings, dramatically reducing waiting times and improving patient outcomes.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor dermatologists, it would mean we could focus our specialist skills on the most complex cases, while still providing expert guidance to patients being treated in the community through the objective data their measurements provide.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr Sara Medina-Lombardero, a research associate at Heriot-Watt University who is leading the patient and user clinical development of the technology, added: \u201cThe planned clinical evaluation will allow us to confidently correlate our objective measurements to those of specialist dermatologist assessments.<\/p>\n
\u201cSuccess will set us on a path where the sensor could enable treatment tracking and diagnoses to be made in local pharmacies and community healthcare facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Heriot-Watt University has said its \u201cgroundbreaking technology\u201d that could \u201crevolutionise how eczema is diagnosed and treated\u201d has received…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56227,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1698,103,39768,61,60,22726,89,9036,80,1577],"class_list":{"0":"post-56226","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-dermatology","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-heriot-watt-university","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-medical-technology","14":"tag-research","15":"tag-scotland","16":"tag-technology","17":"tag-uk"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}