Evaluation of the SEM Scanner 200 for the Detection of Early Pressure Ulcers: A Multi-Site Longitudinal Study

This is a multi-site, longitudinal study to evaluate the use of the SEM Scanner as an adjunct to clinical judgment for detection of early pressure ulcers in patients before clinical judgment using signs of pressure ulcers from skin assessments. longitudinal study to evaluate the use of the SEM Scanner as an adjunct to clinical judgment for detection of early pressure ulcers in patients before skin assessments.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Pressure Ulcers
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: Use of SEM200 Scanner daily; Other: Assessment and treatment of Pressure Ulcers using SOC

Detailed Description

All subjects are followed for a minimum of 6 days to a maximum of 21 days upon enrollment or until exit from the study . Enrolled subjects are assessed once daily throughout the follow-up period. Assessments are performed at the sacrum and both heels; if one or more locations are not assessable with the SEM Scanner, only the assessable locations are assessed. Each study site may include one or two wound care specialist (or a similarly trained clinician; the "Specialist") and one or two clinician/patient care provider(s) (the "Generalist") who perform assessments in the study.

Study assessments include (i) daily Risk Assessment and (ii) daily Skin Assessment performed by the Specialist blinded to the SEM readings; and (iii) daily SEM Scanner readings collected by the Generalist blinded to the Risk and Skin assessments. The outcome of interest is the diagnosis of a pressure ulcer by the Specialist using clinical judgment. The Specialist stages any diagnosed pressure ulcers according to NPUAP/EPUAP 2014 guidelines.

Note: If applicable, enrolled subjects continue to receive facility's standard of care practices for pressure ulcer preventive care. Participation in the study does not alter patient's standard of care.

This study involved two study objectives -

1. A primary objective to demonstrate the sensitivity and specificity of the SEM Scanner 200 in detecting early pressure ulcers before clinical judgment ("diagnose PU before clinical judgment").
2. A secondary objective to determine how early the SEM Scanner can detect signs before visually identified via clinical judgment ("time to detection").

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 189
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Pennsylvania
    • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19107
      • Thomas Jefferson Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 55 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Greater or equal to 55 years of age

2. At risk of developing a pressure ulcer at time of enrollment as defined by one or more of the following:

   1. PU Risk Score - Braden < 15; Waterlow ≥ 10; or Norton ≤ 18
   2. Poor mobility; e.g., Braden mobility subscore ≤ 2; Waterlow mobility subscore > 2; Norton mobility subscore ≤ 2; or poor mobility according to clinical judgment (chair- or bed-bound)
   3. Poor nutrition; e.g., Braden nutrition subscore ≤ 2; Waterlow nutrition subscore > 2; or poor nutrition according to clinical judgment
   4. Medical procedure (e.g. surgery, x-ray, etc.) involving immobility and inability to change position lasting 4 hours or longer
3. Evaluable by the study team for a minimum of 6 consecutive days upon enrollment
4. Willing and able to provide informed consent (or by proxy)

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Unhealed (including newly diagnosed) pressure ulcer at any anatomical site at the time of enrollment
2. Broken skin at the sacrum and both heels that prevents collection of SEM Scanner readings from all three anatomical locations; possible assessment at only one or two locations is not grounds for exclusion
3. Moisture lesion or incontinence associated dermatitis at the sacrum
4. Physical, structural, or other limitations preventing assessments required in this study (e.g., suspected or actual injury preventing turning)
5. Presence of any condition(s) or injury(ies) which compromises the subject's ability to complete this study
6. Per clinical decision of the study Investigator, diminished decision-making capacity which might impact compliance or completion with study procedures
7. Patient modesty concerns on the part of the subject (or their proxy) that might impact collection of SEM Scanner readings at the anatomical location (heels and sacrum) to be assessed

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Other: Daily Skin Assessments (SoC and SEM Scanner Readings); The SEM Scanner 200 measures sub-epidermal moisture ("SEM"), which has been studied as an indicator of localized edema characteristic of pressure-induced tissue damage. Daily assessments were performed at the sacrum and both heels unless the anatomical location(s) were not assessable. Daily assessments included: Risk Assessment (standard of care; Braden, Waterlow, or Norton); Skin Assessment (standard of care visual skin assessments utilizing tactile and visual cues); SEM Scanner readings ("test" variable in this study). Standard of care evaluations were conducted by individuals meeting the definition of Specialist specified in the study protocol whereas separate individuals meeting the definition of Generalist performed SEM Scanner 200 measurements. Specialists were blinded to the assessment by the Generalists, and vice versa.

Device: Use of SEM200 Scanner daily; From enrollment to exit,daily SEM Scanner readings collected on Sacrum and Heels; Other: Assessment and treatment of Pressure Ulcers using SOC; Nurse review of Skin risk and skin assessment, notes in chart to assess the frequency to turn patient, use of a specialist bed to prevent or treat early pressure ulcers

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
The Sensitivity of the SEM Scanner Device (70% or Above) for Detecting Early Pressure Ulcers Before Routine Skin Assessments	This study was powered to detect at least 70% sensitivity and 55% specificity of the device compared to the reference standard of clinical STA, with 95% confidence. A total of 189 patients were enrolled, of which 96.3% (n = 182) patients were listed as intent-to-treat (ITT).	A subject was included in the analysis when they had at least one "valid series" within 5 days of visual skin assessment identification of a pressure ulcer (6-21 observation days), or study exit when no pressure ulcer was identified.
The Specificity of the SEM Scanner Device (60% or Above) for Detecting Early Pressure Ulcers	The use of specificity as an end point was recognized, before study inception, as a worst-case assessment for the SEM test because it classes all results in which a pressure ulcer did not visibly manifest (STA negative) but where changes in SEM were observed (SEM positive) as false positive results.	A subject was included in the analysis when they had at least one "valid series" within 5 days of visual skin assessment identification of a pressure ulcer (6-21 observation days), or study exit when no pressure ulcer was identified.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Determine the Average Number of Days Between Detection of Early Pressure Ulcers Using the SEM Scanner and Diagnosis of Pressure Ulcers Through Clinical Judgement ("Time to Detection").	The measure for secondary endpoint is the Number of Days between pressure ulcer diagnosis by clinical judgment of the Specialist and the first day of SEM Scanner delta >0.5 ("time to detection"). For the secondary endpoint, the first measurement of the Valid Series can be at any time during the subject's participation.	A subject was included in the analysis when they had at least one "valid series" within 5 days of visual skin assessment identification of a pressure ulcer (6-21 observation days), or study exit when no pressure ulcer was identified.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Bruin Biometrics, LLC

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Okonkwo H, Bryant R, Milne J, Molyneaux D, Sanders J, Cunningham G, Brangman S, Eardley W, Chan GK, Mayer B, Waldo M, Ju B. A blinded clinical study using a subepidermal moisture biocapacitance measurement device for early detection of pressure injuries. Wound Repair Regen. 2020 May;28(3):364-374. doi: 10.1111/wrr.12790. Epub 2020 Jan 21.

Helpful Links

• Related Info

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: April 1, 2016
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 1, 2016
• Study Completion (Actual): March 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 11, 2016
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 2, 2016
• First Posted (Estimate): March 8, 2016

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 19, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 24, 2020
• Last Verified: September 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: subepidermal moisture
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Skin Diseases; Skin Ulcer; Ulcer; Pressure Ulcer
• Other Study ID Numbers: SEM200-008

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No