•Damage to skin and soft tissue via traumatic burn wounds allows for opportunistic
pathogens to complicate and impede the normal course of healing and repair.
•The diagnosis of microbial infection in a wound, based on common clinical signs
and symptoms is difficult, as there is no gold standard to predict bacterial activity
in tissue and bacteria are invisible to the unaided eye.
•Fluorescence imaging has recently been used to visualize clinically significant levels of pathogenic bacteria in real-time at the bedside using a non-contact hand held device. Using the bacterial fluorescence imaging device is simple and easy to use, similar to using any smart, touchscreen technology.
• By detecting bacteria at the point of care, we may be able to prevent bacterial levels from reaching critical colonisation, infection, and sepsis. Thus, this research has significant implications for improving overall healing.
• Early intervention could reduce the likelihood of graft failure, while fluorescence guided swabs to determine precise bacterial species present will enable targeted antibiotic therapy, with the goal of preventing antibiotic resistance.

The effectiveness of the MolecuLight i:X Imaging Device in the management of bacterial load in burns patients.