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RESEARCH ARTICLE

A Novel Bespoke Hypertrophic Scar

Treatment: Actualizing Hybrid Pressure and Silicone

Therapies with 3D Printing and Scanning

Lung Chow , Kit-lun Yick *, Yue Sun , Matthew S. H. Leung , Mei-ying Kwan , Sun-pui Ng ,
1
1,2
1
3
1
1
Annie Yu , Joanne Yip , Ying-fan Chan 5
1
4
1 Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
2 School of Fashion Design and Engineering, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou
3 Division of Science, Engineering and Health Studies, College of Professional and Continuing Education, The Hong Kong
Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
4 Department of Advanced Fibro Science, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Japan
5 Department of Occupational Therapy, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong
Abstract: The treatment of hypertrophic scars (HSs) is considered to be the most challenging task in wound rehabilitation.
Conventional silicone sheet therapy has a positive effect on the healing process of HSs. However, the dimensions of the silicone
sheet are typically larger than those of the HS itself which may negatively impact the healthy skin that surrounds the HS.
Furthermore, the debonding and displacement of the silicone sheet from the skin are critical problems that affect treatment
compliance. Herein, we propose a bespoke HS treatment design that integrates pressure sleeve with a silicone sheet and use of
silicone gel using a workflow of three-dimensional (3D) printing, 3D scanning and computer-aided design, and manufacturing
software. A finite element analysis (FEA) is used to optimize the control of the pressure distribution and investigate the effects
of the silicone elastomer. The result shows that the silicone elastomer increases the amount of exerted pressure on the HS and
minimizes unnecessary pressure to other parts of the wrist. Based on this treatment design, a silicone elastomer that perfectly
conforms to an HS is printed and attached onto a customized pressure sleeve. Most importantly, unlimited scar treating gel can
be applied as the means to optimize treatment of HSs while the silicone sheet is firmly affixed and secured by the pressure sleeve.

Keywords: Surgical scars; Hypertrophic scars; Finite element analysis; 3D-printing; 3D-scanning

*Correspondence to: Kit-lun Yick, Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong;
tcyick@polyu.edu.hk

Received: November 24, 2020; Accepted: December 30, 2020; Published Online: January 25, 2021
Citation: Chow L, Yick KL, Sun Y, et al., 2021, A Novel Bespoke Hypertrophic Scar Treatment: Actualizing Hybrid Pressure
and Silicone Therapies with 3D Printing and Scanning. Int J Bioprint, 7(1):327. http://doi.org/10.18063/ijb.v7i1.327

1. Introduction blood loss. With aid of the coagulation factors, the plug
can be further stabilized by platelet aggregation and
Wound healing is a complicated process that can the formation of fibrin scaffold which are driven by the
be described as the restitution of natural anatomical enzymatic cascade [1,2] . The second phase of wound healing
relationships and physiological integrity of the injured is inflammation which occurs around the 5 days after the
tissues . The wound healing process can be divided into injury. In this phase, the immune system is triggered to
[1]
overlapping phases with reference to the phase of recovery, activate the inflammatory reactions to prevent infection.
including hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and Neutrophils and macrophages are recruited to remove
remodeling. Hemostasis occurs immediately after the any invading bacteria or foreign debris . The third phase
[3]
tissue or capillary blood vessels are damaged. The platelet is the proliferation which occurs around 5 – 10 days
degranulation creates a hemostatic plug to prevent the after the injury and may last for 3 – 6 weeks. The main

© 2021 Chow, et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the
original work is properly cited.
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