Australian Telehealth firm Coviu said it will work on a project to create a new digital toolkit for telehealth wound care. The company is working in collaboration with the government research agency Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, the Western NSW Primary Health Network, university partners The University of Sydney and The University of Technology Sydney, and insurance firm Australian Unity.

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The cost of chronic wounds is equivalent to more than $3.5 billion, approximately 2% of national healthcare expenditure, with more than 400,000 Australians estimated to suffer at any time.

The new suite of digital tools will provide a one-stop-shop for clinicians caring for wounds, which have become even more acute during the pandemic, especially in regional areas where there are workforce shortages.

Through AI-powered mobile imaging, physicians will be able to analyze and monitor wounds remotely.

Coviu has received roughly A$6.5 million ($4.5 million) in funding from the federal government's Medical Research Future Fund for this project, which will start development next year. Coviu targets to release its digital wound care toolkit on its platform in 2026, reports MobiHealthNews.

Commenting on the technology, Dr. Annie Banbury, Clinical Research Lead at Coviu said, “The wound care digital toolkit gives us an enormous opportunity to make a difference to the health and quality of life of aged care residents. It will support clinicians, such as GPs, to make data-informed clinical decisions for wound care during a telehealth video call. It will also allow more clinicians to provide high-quality wound care to residential aged care settings.  The toolkit will continue building Coviu’s AI digital tools to support health care providers”.

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“The toolkit will bring together organizations with a range of expertise – from creating the AI solution with wound care experts to its implementation in residential aged care. For this project, we have Coviu, leading research institutions, aged care providers, and specialists in rural health and health economics. To have the backing of the Federal Government’s Medical Research Future Fund is fantastic – we can’t wait to get started.”