Special Session 149: Recent developments in Free Boundary Problems and Nonlinear PDEs

A mathematical approach to epidermal wound healing
Katerina Nik
KAUST
Saudi Arabia
Co-Author(s):    
Abstract:
A mathematical model for epidermal wound closure is considered. The model is based on a moving boundary problem in which the wound edge moves once a generic epidermal growth factor exceeds a given threshold. Solutions are constructed explicitly and the existence of a waiting time before boundary motion sets in is demonstrated. The natural emergence of delay in the solution is then discussed for cases where diffusion of the growth factor concentration fails to balance the rapid motion of the wound edge.