Mechanochemical aspects of skin wound healing in microgravity

Abstract A coupled biomechanical-chemical growth model is proposed to study regeneration of residual stresses and appearance of wrinkling during cutaneous wound healing in a microgravity environment. A novel free energy density is introduced which couples mechanics, nutrient chemistry, and microgravity, assuming both skin and wound to be nonlinear elastic membranes. A simple boundary-value-problem is formulated and solved to obtain quantitative results on effects due to short-term and long-term microgravity exposure on stress generation and wrinkle formation, while emphasizing the interplay between elasticity, nutrient concentration, and microgravity.