Improvement of the Healing Process in Superficial Skin Wounds after Treatment with EMOLED

A faster healing process was observed in superficial skin wounds after irradiation with the EMOLED photocoagulator. The instrument consists of a compact handheld photocoagulation device, useful for inducing coagulation in superficial abrasions. In this study, living animals were mechanically abraded in four regions of their back: two regions were left untreated, the other two were treated with EMOLED, healthy skin surrounding the wounds was used as a control. The treatment effect on skin was monitored by visual observations, histopathological analysis, immuno-histochemical analysis, and non-linear microscopic imaging performed 8 days after the treatment, finding no adverse reactions and no thermal damage in both treated areas and surrounding tissues. In addition, a faster healing process, a reduced inflammatory response, a higher collagen content, and a better-recovered skin morphology was evidenced in the treated tissue with respect to the untreated tissue. These morphological features were characterized by means of immunohistochemical analysis, aimed at imaging fibroblasts and myofibroblasts, and by SHG microscopy, aimed at characterizing collagen organization, demonstrating a fully recovered aspect of dermis as well as a faster neocollagenesis in the treated regions. This study demonstrates that the selective photothermal effect we used for inducing immediate coagulation in superficial wounds is associated to a minimal inflammatory response, which provides reduced recovery times and improved healing process.