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Introduction

           In almost all types of tissues, scar formation results from the body's natural repair mechanisms in response to tissue injury or damage.  Scar tissue does not have all of the functionality of normal tissue and is an undesirable result of the healing process.  Not only is scar tissue unable to function in the same manner as the normal tissue it replaces, but it also can be debilitating to one's ability to move freely and can be unsightly, especially in the case of large dermal wounds.
           In most surgical procedures, incisions are made through the epidermis and dermis.  When these wounds heal they can result in large, noticible scars.  Accidental injuries also heal to form unsightly scars.  Dermal scars resulting from both accidental trauma and surgeries can have profound phsycological affects on a person, especially when they are present on a highly visible area of the person such as the face, hands, or arms.

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About This Website

           Wound healing is a very complicated and poorly understood process, and to goal of acheiving scarless healing can likely be brought closer to reality through several different approaches; this website will focus on only one.  This approach is that of a salve that could be applied topically to dermal wounds to promote scarless healing of wounds.  This method would be best characterized as a tissue engineering solution to the problem.
           In the pages of this website, a brief overview of dermal wound healing will be presented along with research that has been done towards creating such a topical healing salve.  Finally, a hypothetical strategy will be outlined.
           This website was created by Nick Gunn for the course BME 240 [Intro to Clinical Medicine] at the University of California at Irvine, taken in Spring, 2007.  BME 240 Homepage.

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