A useful App to document scar assessment

The ClinMAPS PRO app recently release on the iOS Appstore

The ClinMAPS™ PRO app is an iOS application that was developed with the support of AusHealth® to help clinicians and researchers assess the progress of burns scars but is just as relevant to assess post operative scars that lymphoedema practitioners may see.

It is based on the scar assessment tool, Matching Assessment using Photographs with Scars (MAPS), which was developed in 2005 by Margot Masters and Margaret McMahon, therapists working with burns patients at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

While the hardcopy was sold by the Royal Adelaide Hospital, the app makes the information more readily available to clinicians and therapists worldwide, ultimately benefiting patients across the globe. Other scar rating scales use numbers or words to describe what the scar looks like, but since every scar is quite unique, photos provide a much better comparison. In addition the app decreases the time taken to conduct a scar assessment compared to the manual version. Reliability testing results (in press) indicate that when in the hands of an experienced rater it has exceptional reliability.

The ClinMAPS™ PRO app includes the modified Vancouver Scar Scale (mVSS), patient-reported outcomes, and the addition of the Japan Scar Scale and the POSAS will be added shortly. Further scar assessment tools are planned to be added making this a complete scar assessment package. After completion of an assessment, the app creates a pre-formatted report that the clinician can email as a PDF or print to a connected printer for inclusion in paper or electronic medical records.

The app is currently free to download from the Apple App Store, and it is hoped that an Android version will be available in the future.