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Abstract Background Burns are life-threatening with high morbidity and mortality. Reliable diagnosis supported by accurate burn area and depth assessment is critical to the success of the treatment decision and, in some cases, can save the patient’s life. Current techniques such as straight-ruler method, aseptic film trimming method, and digital camera photography method are not repeatable and comparable, which lead to a great difference in the judgment of burn wounds and impede the establishment of the same evaluation criteria. Hence, in order to semi-automate the burn diagnosis process, reduce the impact of human error, and improve the accuracy of burn diagnosis, we include the deep learning technology into the diagnosis of burns. Method This article proposes a novel method employing a state-of-the-art deep learning technique to segment the burn wounds in the images. We designed this deep learning segmentation framework based on the Mask Regions with Convolutional Neural Network (Mask R-CNN). For training our framework, we labeled 1150 pictures with the format of the Common Objects in Context (COCO) data set and trained our model on 1000 pictures. In the evaluation, we compared the different backbone networks in our framework. These backbone networks are Residual Network-101 with Atrous Convolution in Feature Pyramid Network (R101FA), Residual Network-101 with Atrous Convolution (R101A), and InceptionV2-Residual Network with Atrous Convolution (IV2RA). Finally, we used the Dice coefficient (DC) value to assess the model accuracy. Result The R101FA backbone network gains the highest accuracy 84.51% in 150 pictures. Moreover, we chose different burn depth pictures to evaluate these three backbone networks. The R101FA backbone network gains the best segmentation effect in superficial, superficial thickness, and deep partial thickness. The R101A backbone network gains the best segmentation effect in full-thickness burn. Conclusion This deep learning framework shows excellent segmentation in burn wound and extremely robust in different burn wound depths. Moreover, this framework just needs a suitable burn wound image when analyzing the burn wound. It is more convenient and more suitable when using in clinics compared with the traditional methods. And it also contributes more to the calculation of total body surface area (TBSA) burned.

Abstract Background Severe burns injury is a serious pathology, leading to teratogenicity and significant mortality, and it also has a long-term social impact. The aim of this article is to describe the hospitalized population with severe burns injuries in eight burn centers in China between 2011 and 2015 and to suggest future preventive strategies. Methods This 5-year retrospective review included all patients with severe burns in a database at eight institutions. The data collected included gender, age, month distribution, etiology, location, presence of inhalation injury, total burn surface area, depth of the burn, the length of hospitalization, and mortality. SPSS 19.0 software was used to analyze the data. Results A total of 1126 patients were included: 803 (71.3%) male patients and 323 (28.7%) female patients. Scalds were the most common cause of burns (476, 42.27%), followed by fire (457, 40.59%). The extremities were the most frequently affected areas, followed by the trunk. The median length of hospitalization was 30 (15, 52) days. The overall mortality rate was 14.21%. Conclusions Although medical centers have devoted intensive resources to improving the survival rates of burn patients, expenditures for prevention and education programs are minimal. Our findings suggest that more attention should be paid to the importance of prevention and the reduction of injury severity. This study may contribute to the establishment of a nationwide burn database and the elaboration of strategies to prevent severe burns injury.

Invasive fungal infection is one of the major complication of severe burns which can induce local or systemic inflammatory response and cause serious substantial damage to the patient. The incidence of fungal infection for burn victims is increasing dramatically during recent years. This guideline, organized by Chinese Society of Burn Surgeons, aims to standardize the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of burn invasive fungal infection. It can be used as one of the tools for treatment of major burn patients.