Predicting Transport Through Dermal Wounds via Analytical, Computational, and Physical Models: Steps Towards the Development of Drug Delivery Techniques for Improved Wound Healin

Dermal wound healing is a natural process comprised of overlapping phases that are activated after wounding occurs in an attempt for the tissue to be reconstructed. While scarring is often a natural result of the wound healing process, abnormalities in the cascade of events that comprise the phases of wound healing (such as alterations in fibrinolysis, the degradation of fibrin fibers that construct a provisional matrix for healing, which occurs in the early phases of the healing process) can lead to excessive or protruding scars, such as keloids.;A review of mathematical models of wound healing has revealed gaps in the literature thus establishing opportunities for exploration specifically in the areas of early-wounds and with respect to facilitated closure such as might occur with sutures. To capitalize on these opportunities, combinations of analytical, computational, and experimental models have been developed to represent the early-phase wound environment, and transport studies and simulations were performed to predict transport properties through such early-phase wound models.;For one set of studies, diffusion of a fluorescent tracer through a fibrin-rich gel has been examined and combined with mathematical models to predict diffusivity and permeability characteristics of the tracer and gel. For a second set of studies, various suture designs each containing a model drug have been envisioned, and analytical and/or simulation-based studies have been completed. The results from these studies represent important steps towards the development of novel drug delivery strategies to minimize scarring from dermal wounds.