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Computational Modeling and Wound Care During COVID-19: An Interview with Professor Amit Gefen
Posted on 27 May 2021 by David Harman
Pressure ulcers and wound care have become particularly important issues over the last year, as patients undergoing intensive care due to COVID-19 experience prolonged contact with medical devices that can cause discomfort and scarring. We recently spoke to our customer Professor Amit Gefen of Tel Aviv University about how he uses Simpleware software in his research into how cells, tissues, and organs respond to mechanical loading in healthy and diseased states. This work has applications to how and why injuries and wounds happen, and how we can prevent injuries or repair and heal them.
Within the interview, we discussed with Professor Gefen how he has developed an integrated approach that combines experiments with computational modeling using Simpleware software. We discussed how using computer models helps understand phenomena that are difficult to analyze in the lab, including for how medical devices such as wound dressings, mattresses, or wheelchair cushions interact with the body.
Responding to COVID-19
Professor Gefen described to us his recent focus on COVID-19 and its impact on helping patients using ventilation equipment, masks, and other life-supporting devices. This area has become increasingly significant due to COVID-19 sufferers being in positions while unconscious or sedated that causes pressure ulcers, higher risk of infection, and potentially life-long scarring.
Example of facial ulcers caused by prone positioning
Simpleware software has been used within Professor Gefen’s group for a long time to create models from 3D image data and combine them with medical devices that contact the skin. We learned about how Simpleware software has been helping Professor Gefen and his research students during the demand for studying medical device and anatomies during COVID-19, and how he has not found a “better tool to characterize these geometries and the complex contact interactions than Simpleware, over many years.”
Furthermore, Professor Gefen explains how solutions such as using wound dressings as prophylactic devices under a mask or on the body while lying down to cushion the skin and prevent ulcers, as well as evaluating the effectiveness of different dressings, were tested using his computer models. Given the demand for new bioengineering knowledge during the pandemic, computational modeling has been essential for Professor Gefen’s group to achieve innovations with immediate benefits for clinicians.
Learn More
- Read more about Professor Gefen’s work on COVID-19
- Attend Prof Gefen’s Webinar on June 23, 2021 on “Computer Models in Wound Care Research: The Key to Innovation”:
Any Questions?
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