Elemental composition changes between breast tissue with and without silicone gel sheeting and hypertrophic scar tissue

Hypertrophic scars occur after dermal trauma and are characterized by being elevated above normal skin level as a result of an abundance of collagen. The application of silicone gel sheeting (SGS) has been found to be an effe ctive method of treatment, causing them to regress much quicker than they w ould do naturally. Normal skin and hypertrophic scar tissue were characteri zed using proton-induced X-ray emission (PIXE). Skin tissue that had been c overed in SGS was also analyzed. For each element and sample type, the conc entrations in the epidermis were plotted against the dermis. By considering the concentrations of breast tissue with and without SGS, it could be seen if the SGS changed the compositional structure of the skin. It was found t hat for the elements P, S, Cl, and K the SGS has no effect on the structure of the skin, as both breast types (with and without SGS) have regression l ines that overlap. However, this work shows that there are significant diff erences for P in the dermis and Cl in the epidermis between the breast tiss ue with SGS and its control. Therefore, this work shows that the effect the SGS has on concentration occurs similarly for both the epidermis and dermi s.