1 cm diameter full thickness wounds in mice typically close after three weeks.

Ultrasound imaging can characterize vascular remodeling from open wounds.

Wound vascularization peaks after eight days before returning to baseline.

Vascular activity is confined within three millimeters from the wound epicenter.

Monitoring of wound healing progression is critical due to the risk of infection, non-healing wounds, or evolution towards a chronic state. Tissue vasculature is one of the most representative features reflecting healing status. This study explores the feasibility of vascular ultrasound imaging of open wounds and the extraction of vascular-related features in a longitudinal study.

C57BL/6 mice received a 1 cm-diameter full-thickness wound on their dorsum and were imaged using ultrasound from the surgical day (Day 0) to 25 days post-wounding. The high frame rate, plane waves acquisitions with a 15 MHz transducer were postprocessed with Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) filtering to provide vascular information.

Vascularity Index (VI) calculations showed an increased vascular signal in the wound from Day 2 post-wounding and were significantly higher from day 6 to day 10 post-wounding compared to Day 0 (p<0.05). VI values were back to the basal level after 3 weeks. In comparison, no significant difference was highlighted for the vascular signal in the peri-wound area.

These results show that vascular ultrasound imaging can be applied to track vascular changes of open wounds during the healing process. This approach may also be extended to other types of wounds for detecting early signs likely to cause complications.

Ultrasound imaging

Vascularization

Wound healing

© 2024 AGBM. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.