Application of Expanded Polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) Tubing to the Study of Human Wound Healing

Abstract

Wounds are a part of daily life. They range from minor nicks and cuts to the incisions of major surgery. In the sequence of evolution the process of healing arose long before modern science. The events which we are beginning to unravel have occurred routinely for a very long time despite our lack of understanding. We have learned how to nurture healing, but how to modify healing in a positive sense is only an approaching reality. Standardized tests of human healing are a necessary part of future research in wound healing. In the Wound Healing Laboratory we have used tubes of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) as a tissue-sampling device in small, experimental, needle-stick wounds. Ingrowth into ePTFE is influenced by surface and structural characteristics. These are held constant, and "normal" values can be established and used as a base with which to study effects of various clinical states on healing in humans.