Project R-16473

Mathematical modelling of mechanotherapy in surgical dermal scars (Research)

Of the 80 million scars formed each year, 40-70% will develop into problematic, stiff, thick, painful, itchy and pigmented scars, with an impact on a person's life. Mechanical loads may contribute to the development of a problematic scar. The application of controlled external mechanical loading (mechanotherapy) can prevent or mitigate these scars. Due to the complexity of factors that affect scar outcome, numerous clinical studies are required to make general assumptions on intervention modalities of the therapy and to predict clinical outcomes. Mathematical modelling of scar formation offers the possibility of predicting which types of loads have a high clinical impact, allowing subsequent clinical trials to be better targeted. This project aims to develop a reliable mathematical model that simulates surgical scar properties after mechanical loading, predicting probabilities of changes at cellular and scar tissue level. This model can be used as a tool to assist practitioners in finding the optimal load application in a realistic clinical setting. This project is innovative since it entails the 1st model to incorporate mechanotherapy, to use clinical data from in vivo human dermal scars for modelling, and to quantify the correlations between mechanotherapy and clinical outcomes. The model will benefit from and to other modeling studies on burn injury and fibrosis in other organs and will be an important step forward for future clinical guidelines on scar (mechano) therapy.

01 January 2026 - 31 December 2029