Towards the Development of a Physical Model of an Early Phase Wound

Abstract

Wound healing is a complicated process in which injured tissue is replaced over time to maintain tissue structure and function.  The process involves a variety of transport processes (including diffusion and chemical sensors) and is normally described in four stages: hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling.  A number of mathematical and physical models of wound healing have been developed, but few focus on the earliest stages of the healing process.  Towards this end, the team of investigators in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Tennessee Technological University are pursuing the development and characterization of an “early-phase” model of dermal (skin) wound healing.   Specifically, agarose gels have been used as an initial model of such wounds, and transport of a fluorescent molecule (tracer) through the gel has been examined.  The collaborative approach has leveraged the Chemical Engineering Machine Shop as a means to produce a housing to contain the gel through which transport occurs.  Changes in concentration of the tracer on either side of the gel reflect the influence of diffusion.  The findings are being used in combination with a simple mathematical model to continue refining and improving the physical model and to shed light on the characteristics of the early phase wound healing process.