Fig 1.
An External Tissue Expansion Device (ETED).
It contains (a) a suction cup 3.5 cm in diameter and 5 cm in height that connected to (b) the pump system. The pump system contains the pump that supplies negative pressure for 4 branches that were linked to 4 suction cups. The pressure meter is used to monitor the pressure. (c) The application of the ETED on porcine model.
Fig 2.
The effects of the ETED on skin tissue.
(a) Wrinkle-like skin was observed after ETED treatment, particularly in the 3H-20 group. H&E stains of skin tissue on (b) control group, (c)1H-10 group, (d)1H-20 group, (e) 3H-10 group and (f) 3H-20 group demonstrating that longer ETED treatment results in a more severe effect on the epidermis morphology. C: Control. H: Hour.
Fig 3.
Images of H&E staining on the epidermis and dermis.
Samples are from (a) control group, (b) 1H-10 group, (c) 1H-20 group, (d) 3H-10 group and (e) 3H-20 group (Scale bar equals to 100 μm). (f) Quantification of subcutaneous thickness under ETED treatment showing increasing thickness with treatment time. * Indicates statistical significance p <0.05.
Fig 4.
Sections of specimens were stained with Ki67 (brown) to evaluate cell proliferation.
Those specimens are from control group (a), 1H-10 group (b), 1H-20 group (c), 3H-10 group (d) and 3H-20 group (magnification, 50x, Scale bar equals to 100 μm). (e) The percentage of Ki67-positive cells. * Indicates statistical significance p <0.05.
Fig 5.
The blood vessels were evaluated by staining for CD 31 (Green).
Results are shown for the (a) control group, (b) 1H-10 group, (c) 1H-20 group, (d) 3H-10 group and (e) 3H-20 group (Scale bar equals to 100 μm). Animals treated with the ETED showed an increase in blood vessel density (f) and higher levels of FGF (g), VEGF-A (h) and PDGF-BB (i) compared to the control group. * Indicates statistical significance p <0.05.
Fig 6.
Hair follicle evaluation analysis.
Keratin-16 stains (brown) of the specimens from (a) control group, (b)1H-10 group, (c)1H-20 group, (d)3H-10 group and (e) 3H-20 group. The presented images were assembled by approximately 20 images, scale bar is approximately 1 mm. (f) Quantification of hair follicle density. * Indicates statistical significance p <0.05. Arrow indicates the location of hair follicles.