  Wound geometry and the mechanical properties of human skin govern the failure
modes of partially healed or scarred tissue. Though dermatologists and surgeons
develop an intuitive understanding of the mechanical characteristics of skin
through clinical practice, finite element models of wounds can aid in
formalizing intuition. In this work, we explore the effect of wound geometry
and primary intention closure on the propagation of mechanical stresses through
skin. We use a two-layer, orthotropic, hyperelastic model of the epidermis,
dermis, and subcutis to accurately capture the mechanical and geometric effects
at work. We highlight the key assumptions which must be made when modeling
closure of wounds by primary intention, clearly delineating promising areas for
model improvement. Models are implemented in DOLFINx, an open-source finite
element framework, and reference code is provided for reproducible and
extensible science.
