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Donor’s gift offers healing Thanks to a generous donor and new technology, Parkland has the ability to make the healing process easier for certain burn injured patients. When patients experience a burn injury significant enough to cause facial scarring, they must wear a therapeutic facial mask to help with healing. But the previous means of creating the facial mask was outdated and provided minimal benefit to the patient, according to Sue Vanek, coordinator of Parkland’s Burn Center. “In order to produce a mold for the mask, the patient had to tolerate multiple plaster strips placed across the face with straws in their nose to breath while it was allowed to dry,” explained Vanek.Because children account for more than 200 burn patients at Parkland each year, “sitting still for a long time is especially difficult for these patients,” she added. However, a new device, called the CimMed, is non-invasive and mobile. A therapist uses a portable laser wand to scan the face of a patient, even while sitting in the lap of mom or dad - a big comfort for little patients. Modifications are made to the electronic images on a laptop, which allows for minute alterations like decreasing or increasing pressure for better healing. It is then sent to the manufacturer who creates the mold. An additional benefit is time. One therapist can create a CimMed mask verses the former cumbersome method which required three therapists. Having an efficient system helps improve the quality of care because the therapists can spend more time one-on-one with their patients. “Not only does this device allow us to produce a better mask that captures the details missed during the plaster strip process, but it also creates the opportunity to provide better masks to children, claustrophobic patients and patients who are still hospitalized or in the acute phase of their injury,” Vanek said. “This donation allows us to help more patients through the healing process and hopefully improve their quality of life.” |
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