Clinical trial visits put a heavy load on the person holding the phone or tablet. The same wound gets assessed for care, then measured again for the protocol, then written up a third time as a source note. A mobile wound care app built around the point of care can cut that repetition, as long as it keeps the investigator in charge of what counts.
This guide walks through what trial-ready mobile wound care documentation looks like from the clinician's side of the bed.
Why trial visits are hard to document
The problem is familiar to any site coordinator or wound care nurse. Measurements vary from site to site, and every visit note gets typed again for the study. Different wound types share the same data needs: eligibility, measurement, and source notes at every visit and every site.
The workflow applies across wound types a protocol might cover:
- Diabetic foot ulcers
- Venous leg ulcers
- Pressure injuries
- Surgical wounds
- Burns
Screening at the bedside
Screening starts with a short list of essentials, and a mobile app lets you confirm them during the visit instead of afterward. Typical checks include:
- Ulcer size, for example one to twenty square centimeters post-debridement.
- Ulcer duration, confirming weeks of prior standard care.
- Perfusion, with values like ABI, TBI, or TcPO2.
- Infection status, confirmed before a patient can qualify.
The last step is always the investigator's. Nothing counts until they sign.
Measurement that matches across sites
Photo capture on a phone is only useful for a trial if every site measures the same way. Markerless imaging with planimetry gives each clinician the same method, in line with FDA guidance on standardizing endpoint tools. See AI-powered wound imaging for how the imaging side works.
This matters more than it seems. Many trials exclude ulcers that shrink twenty percent during a run-in, so a small measurement difference can decide whether a patient even qualifies.
Draft notes, investigator signature
With ambient AI capturing the visit conversation, each visit becomes a draft source note. The AI drafts, but the investigator decides: every note is reviewed and signed before it counts. That keeps the clinical judgment where the protocol expects it, while removing the retyping.
Tracking healing between visits
Across the study, you can follow each wound's path to closure, tracking area, depth, and trend. Stalling is flagged for review, so a slow wound doesn't wait for the next scheduled look. Between visits, participants get plain-language guidance, visits can happen anywhere, and one record carries history forward.
Checklist before you adopt a mobile tool for a trial
| Question | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Does screening run in the visit? | Size, duration, perfusion, infection captured at the bedside |
| Is measurement standardized? | Same imaging and planimetry method at every site |
| Who signs? | Investigator reviews every AI-drafted note |
| Is history continuous? | One record across visits and sites |
Where to go next
Every protocol is different, so map yours against the workflow above before committing. To see the full platform behind the app, visit the main website. For the trial-focused overview, read the original post on running a wound care trial.