Thermal injury of skin and subcutaneous tissues: A review of experimental approaches and numerical models

•A summary of properties of skin and subcutaneous tissue is provided.•Prevailing imaging modalities for burn assessment are reviewed and compared.•Burn experiment protocols are summarized.•Models for simulation of the burn process are reviewed.

Thermal injury to skin and subcutaneous tissue is common in both civilian and combat scenarios. Understanding the change in tissue morphologies and properties and the underlying mechanisms of thermal injury are of vital importance to clinical determination of the degree of burn and treatment approach. This review aims at summarizing the research involving experimental and numerical studies of skin and subcutaneous tissue subjected to thermal injury. The review consists of two parts. The first part deals with experimental studies including burn protocols and prevailing imaging approaches. The second part deals with existing numerical models for burns of tissue and related computational simulations. Based on this review, we conclude that though there is literature contributing to the knowledge of the pathology and pathogenesis of tissue burn, there is scant quantitative information regarding changes in tissue properties including mechanical, thermal, electrical and optical properties as a result of burns that are linked to altered tissue morphology.