Journal article

A three species model to simulate application of hyperbaric oxygen therapy to chronic wounds

JA Flegg, DLS McElwain, HM Byrne, IW Turner

Plos Computational Biology | PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE | Published : 2009

Abstract

Chronic wounds are a significant socioeconomic problem for governments worldwide. Approximately 15% of people who suffer from diabetes will experience a lower-limb ulcer at some stage of their lives, and 24% of these wounds will ultimately result in amputation of the lower limb. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) has been shown to aid the healing of chronic wounds; however, the causal reasons for the improved healing remain unclear and hence current HBOT protocols remain empirical. Here we develop a three-species mathematical model of wound healing that is used to simulate the application of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the treatment of wounds. Based on our modelling, we predict that intermitt..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Awarded by Australian Research Council Discovery Project


Funding Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the award of a doctoral scholarship from the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation at Queensland University of Technology (J.A.F.) and an Australian Research Council Discovery Project ( project number DP0878011) ( J. A. F). This work was carried out while H. M. B. was visiting Queensland University of Technology, funded by the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation and the School of Mathematical Sciences. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.