Resonance Near-Field Microwave Probing as a Method for Exploration of Deep Burn Wound Structures in Experiment

The aim of the investigation was to study the diagnostic value of the near-field microwave probing in the assessment of the normal and experimentally burned rat skin profiles.

Materials and Methods. The investigation was performed on 30 mature Wistar male rats divided into two groups of equal size. The animals of the control group (n=15) did not undergo any manipulations except for a single microwave probing. A contact thermal burn covering 20% of the body area was modeled on the rats of the main group (n=15). Near-field microwave probing was carried out using a device designed in the Federal Research Center Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Nizhny Novgorod, Russia) which enables the estimation of the object dielectric permittivity. A set of probes was used to assess dielectric characteristics of the skin at the depth of 2–5 mm.

Results. Real part of dielectric permittivity of the skin and subcutaneous structures in normal rats was determined to rise monotonously with the increase of the probing depth from 2 to 5 mm and a pitch of 0.5 to 1 mm. The tissues of the burn wound demonstrate a higher level of real part of dielectric permittivity relative to the intact skin, the shift having different temporal dynamics. That is immediately after the burn application, changes of the parameter in the superficial biological tissue layers prevail and a day later they prevail in the deeper ones.

Conclusion. The method of the resonance microwave investigation can be used to monitor the structure of the skin in norm and in local changes including the depth of thermal tissue injuries.

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Martusevich А.K., Krasnova S.Yu., Galka А.G., Peretyagin P.V., Kostrov А.V. Resonance Near-Field Microwave Probing as a Method for Exploration of Deep Burn Wound Structures in Experiment. Sovremennye tehnologii v medicine 2018; 10(3): 125, https://doi.org/10.17691/stm2018.10.3.15