Term of Award

Summer 2025

Degree Name

Master of Science, Mechanical Engineering

Document Type and Release Option

Thesis (open access)

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Department

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Committee Chair

Hayri Sezer

Committee Member 1

Marcel Ilie

Committee Member 2

Mujinur Khan

Abstract

The current number of people in America with diabetes is approximately 38.4 million, that population is expected to rise to 54.9 million by 2030. Chronic wounds, which are characterized by impaired or stalled healing, are commonly associated with diabetes. These wounds if not treated properly can cause significant complications such as sepsis, infection, and gangrene which can lead to limb amputation or death of the patient. Limb amputations can be a large financial burden and significantly reduce the patient’s quality of life. The timely and efficient treatment of chronic wounds is essential to prevent adverse patient outcomes. Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy (HBOT) is one of the treatments used to assist in the healing of chronic wounds. This treatment is usually applied using a standardized treatment pressure of 1.5 to 3 atm and exposure duration of 90 minutes. Individualizing the treatment protocol can help improve outcomes and potentially save money for the patient. Individualization of the treatment protocol can be reached by creating a mathematical model of the wound that utilizes conditions from previously established literature to create a realistic simulation that can be used to optimize the treatment of a chronic wound based on a variety of parameter variations, wound dimensions, and HBOT exposure protocols. This model can show how the wound progresses during a HBOT treatment course in both 1D and 2D by simulating the effects of the treatment using the Finite Volume Method. The simulation focuses on three species oxygen (w), capillary tips (n), and blood vessels (b) to simulate the healing process of a chronic wound. The results of this model show that HBOT is an effective method of healing chronic wounds that are hypoxic. These results can be used to predict how wounds will respond to different treatment protocols. A higher concentration of the three species and migration towards the center of the wound by blood vessels and capillary tips can indicate wound progression. The simulations produced by this model can be used as a predictive measure to advise physicians on the proper treatment protocol when administering HBOT.

OCLC Number

1528851614

Research Data and Supplementary Material

Yes

Download

Share

COinS