Figure 1:
From: Polymeric hydrogels for burn wound care: Advanced skin wound dressings and regenerative templates
Timing and phases of skin wound healing. Following the inflammatory response, a disorganized and loose collagen matrix (granulation tissue) is formed and epithelialized during the proliferation phase. Final remodeling or maturation takes place over several weeks, when the collagen matrix is gradually reorganized by myofibroblasts along lines of tension, which arise from wound contraction. The final outcome of healing can thus be regarded as the sum of two processes, that is contraction and formation of epithelialized scar.