Vascular science and wound healing
The vascular group undertakes measurements that are central to the management of wounds and to increase knowledge of the under laying physiological processes. A key development is the construction of a high-resolution ultrasound Imager -to do non-invasive biopsies of tissues at risk including blood vessels.
Overall we aim:
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To develop techniques to identify impaired wound healing.
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To identify the role of ischaemia in impaired healing of diabetic foot wounds.
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To identify the extent of venous impairment in diabetic disease.
We plan to achieve these by working in multidisciplinary teams using new and existing techniques to characterise tissues at risk.
The group also conduct clinical trials and for instance has recently completed a clinical study of Dermagraft™ – a tissue engineered product for wound healing –from Smith and Nephew. The group has made a sustained contribution to research and development through publications in peer reviewed journals, books, book chapters and presentations at meetings over the years.