Microscopy to models: Developing engineering image processing methods to analyse microstructural changes in wound healing

Management of soft tissue wounds creates a social-economic burden to the UK society. The healing processes involve significant inter-patient variability, affected by morphological changes that could lead to evolutions in tissue properties, e.g. cell density and collagen network. This project aims to gain a quantitative understanding of how tissue properties evolve microstructurally during wound healing, by developing a rapid image processing technique for microscopy data (3D and histological sections). The data will be used to develop models of healing process, leading towards predictive capability. This will be a key first step towards personalised wound management approaches based on predictive modelling.