Applied Science and Engineering of Wound Dressings and their Clinical Effectiveness
From Design Principles to Physiological Performance
- 1st Edition - January 1, 2026
- Editor: Amit Gefen
- Language: English
- Paperback ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 3 2 3 - 9 1 7 7 5 - 9
- eBook ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 3 2 3 - 9 7 2 4 9 - 9
Applied Science and Engineering of Wound Dressings and their Clinical Effectiveness: From Design Principles to Physiological Performance addresses the measurable physical,… Read more
Purchase options
Applied Science and Engineering of Wound Dressings and their Clinical Effectiveness: From Design Principles to Physiological Performance addresses the measurable physical, chemical, biomaterial, fluid structure, mechanical and thermal characteristics that are imperative for a dressing to effectively treat acute and chronic wounds. Divided into two parts, the book discusses the properties of wound dressings, their structure, and how they interact with skin surfaces based on scientific investigation and testing. It also discusses potential tradeoffs, including associated costs of manufacturing, clinical performance characteristics of a dressing, e.g., ease of application and removal, the ability of the dressing to stay in place, and more.
This book will be valuable for all professionals involved in the treatment of all types of wounds, including biomedical engineers, material scientists, clinicians across all the relevant medical disciplines, industrialists and regulatory professionals in the field of wound care, academics, scientists and entrepreneurs in the field of medical devices, and undergraduate and graduate bioengineering and medical engineering students who are interested in the structure and function of wound dressings.
- Focuses specifically on the holistic science, engineering and medical-clinical applications of wound dressings
- Provides the most up-to-date knowledge on the design and evaluation of performances of wound dressings in both the acute and chronic wound fields
- Reviews relevant measurable physical, chemical, biomaterial, fluid-structure, mechanical and thermal characteristics that are important for a wound dressing to effectively treat acute and chronic tissue damage
- Describes the clinical practice and patient experience criteria that are pivotal for a dressing to effectively treat acute injuries and chronic wounds
- Discusses the direct healthcare costs involved in wound care, including the hospital environment, as well as specific nursing costs, the cost of the actual dressings, their supply/storage, and the costs associated with applying and removing the prescribed dressings
Bioengineers/biomedical engineers, materials engineers, chemical engineers, textile engineers, biochemists, biophysicists and biologists including cell biologists and microbiologists, nursing scientists, health economists, all research and development in the global wound care and prevention industry, Nurses including wound care specialists and tissue viability nurses, ostomy wound and continence nurses, perioperative (operating room) nurses, primary care physicians, orthopaedics and orthopaedic surgeons, podiatrists, general surgeons, plastic surgeons, burn surgeons and burn specialists, vascular surgeons, geriatricians, paediatricians, intensive care specialists and traumatologists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, pharmacologists, pressure ulcer, venous ulcer and diabetes educators and marketing personnel
Part 1a: Introduction: An evidence-based, clinically relevant approach to dressing design and evaluation
1. Clinical wound care and management translated to the requirements from effective wound dressings
1.1. Condensed review of the history of wound dressing materials and structures
1.2. The primary clinical roles of dressings and their relationship and contribution to wound healing
1.3. How the most clinically-relevant characteristics of dressings relate to their physical structure
1.4. Exudate management and dressing function across the range of acute and chronic wounds
1.5. The required dressing-wound/skin interface conditions during use and removal of dressings
1.6. Bio-physiological environments where dressings must function: Impact on dressing performances
1.7. Identified gaps in evaluation and testing of dressing performances with respect to clinical needs
1.8. Summary and conclusions
Part 1b: Science and engineering of treatment dressings
2. Physical and chemical characteristics of common dressing materials
2.1. Roles of the physical & chemical properties of dressing materials in shaping the fluid management
2.2. Material density and porosity and relevance to mechanical function
2.2.1. Pore and strut shapes, sizes and variability: Relevance to buckling and stiffness of foams
2.2.2. Interconnectivity of pores and tortuosity of the connecting paths: Relevance to fluid flow
2.3. Surface affinity to aqueous solutions (hydrophilicity) and the use of surfactants
2.4. Permeability
2.4.1. Air and gas exchange (vapor-permeability)
2.4.2. Permeability to metabolites, proteins and salts
2.4.3. Hydrophobic (waterproof) features of the external dressing surface
3. Material characteristics and dressing constructs and composites
3.1. Major foam materials currently used in the dressing industry
3.2. Composite foams and foam-gelling fibre dressing structures
3.3. Requirements for chemical and biological stability of dressing materials and constructs
4. Biocompatibility, biological & physiological impact of dressing materials and structures
4.1. Non-cytotoxicity in vitro requirements
4.2. Non-allergenicity/sensitized/irritant materials to patients/healthcare workers: Requirements & standards
4.3. Antimicrobial/antifungal/antiviral materials & treatments in passive, non-drug-eluting dressings
4.3.1. Common embedded antimicrobial and anti-biofilm agents
4.3.2. Sterilizability and sterility maintenance requirements and potential influence on materials
4.3.2.1. Steam
4.3.2.2. Chemical sterilization
4.3.2.3. Radiation
4.3.2.4. Relevant standards and regulatory requirements
4.3.3. Compatibility with commonly used debridement agents and disinfectants
4.3.3.1. Chemical enzyme debriders
4.3.3.2. Chlorhexidine gluconate debriders
4.3.3.3. Povidone-iodine (iodopovidone)
4.3.3.4. Hypochlorous acid
4.4. Biomechanical compatibility aspects: Biological indications of skin damage/stripping
4.5. The epibole concept of rolled wound edges: Relevance to dressing interactions with peri-wound skin & dressing traumas
5. Fluid-structure characteristics and interactions
5.1. Exudate absorption capacity and rate
5.2. Continuity of exudate fluid transfer between the dressing components
5.3. Exudate retention capacity
5.4. Sorptivity
5.5. Moisture vapor transmission rate
5.6. Free swelling and dilatation
5.7. Synergy of different fluid-structure characteristics for optimal fluid management performances
6. Mechanical and contact characteristics
6.1. Stiffness and strength and empirical relationship to density and porosity
6.2. Mechanical protection to the wound-bed
6.2.1. Shear strength
6.2.2. Bending stiffness
6.2.3. Quality of seal to prevent exudate leakage
6.3. Non-adherence of the dressing to the wound-bed and fluid-structure
6.4. Adhesion strength of the dressing borders to peri-wound skin
6.5. Coefficient of friction of the external dressing surface
6.6. Shape conformability of dressings to the wound cavity and to the body surface contours
6.7. Tensile strength, elongation and relevant failure criteria
6.8. Wear-and-tear and the relevance of material fatigue and aging under repeated loading
7. Thermal characteristics
7.1. Specific heat capacity and heat storage capacity
7.2. Thermal conductivity and the importance of adequate insulation
7.3. Thermal absorptivity (warmth-to-touch)
7.4. Thermal diffusivity and effusivity
7.5. Thermal expansion
8. Biological and physiological impacts of dressing performances
8.1. Supporting the wound area and volume reduction, re-epithelialization and collagen deposition
8.2. Managing inflammatory cytokines through dressings
8.3. Managing inflammatory proteases by means of dressings
8.4. The impact of dressings on inflammatory cell infiltration into the wound
8.5. The influence of dressings on angiogenesis and capillary density within & around the wound-bed
8.6. Bacterial trapping and infection reduction measures applied in dressings
8.6.1. Physical bacterial traps
8.6.2. Chemical bacterial traps
8.6.3. Electroceutical dressings
8.7. Physiological measures of dressing performances in wound healing
8.7.1. Direct physiological measures of healing
8.7.2. Indirect physiological measures of healing
8.8. The role of the wound contact layer as the direct dressing-wound interface
9. Theoretical interrelationships among dressing properties that affect performances
9.1. Empirical density-stiffness and density-strength relationships in foams
9.2. Relationship between exudate flux and the pore size
9.3. Relationships between thermal conductivity, density and absorptivity
9.4. Relationship between the dressing surface material and color and thermal absorptivity
Part 2: Clinical practice and patient experience criteria
10. Ease of clinical use and medical benefits
10.1. Ease of clinical application and removal
10.2. Ability to visually inspect the wound-bed and peri-wound skin under the dressing
10.3. Ability and ease of cutting the dressing to shape
10.4. Desloughing and debridement action features
10.5. Peri-wound skin damage or maceration
10.6. The ability of a dressing to stay in place (no rolling, falling-off etc.)
11. Acceptability to patients and immediate care givers
11.1. Physiological measures of discomfort and pain relevant to the function of dressings
11.2. Comfort (or discomfort) and user experience (i.e. ‘feel and touch’)
11.3. Discomfort or pain during dressing removals/changes
11.4. Odor absorbance
11.5. The effects of aging or age-related factors on patient and care giver experiences
11.6. Dressing color and appearance when new/used and cultural variation in perception
11.7. Usability
12. Cost-effectiveness
13. Potential trade-offs between engineering and clinical dressing requirements and patient experience
- Edition: 1
- Published: January 1, 2026
- Language: English
AG
Amit Gefen
Professor Amit Gefen received the B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering and M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Tel Aviv University in 1994, 1997, and 2001, respectively. During 2002-2003 he was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, USA. He is currently a Full Professor with the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering of Tel Aviv University and the Herbert J. Berman Chair in Vascular Bioengineering. Prof. Gefen has also been the Head of the Ela Kodesz Institute for Medical Engineering and Physical Sciences at Tel Aviv University. The research interests of Prof. Gefen are in studying normal and pathological effects of biomechanical factors on the structure and function of cells, tissues and organs, with emphasis on applications in chronic wound research. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Clinical Biomechanics (published by Elsevier), and has also edited several books
and several Special Issues in journals such as the Annals of Biomedical Engineering, Journal of Biomechanics, Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering and more. Recently, Prof. Gefen chaired the Etiology expert panel for development of the International Pressure Ulcer Prevention & Treatment Guidelines (2019) and also chaired the global panel of experts who developed the International Consensus Document for Device-related Pressure Ulcers, published by the Journal of Wound Care (2020).
Affiliations and expertise
Professor in Biomedical Engineering, Berman Chair in Vascular Bioengineering, Tel Aviv University, The Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Israel.