Mar 02, 2010

Scientists able to print new skin as burn scar treatment method

Researchers at a U.S. Army research lab at Wake Forest University in North Carolina have begun developing a new technique that may help soldiers and other individuals recover from burn scars.

The investigators have found that by modifying a conventional ink jet printer and growing skin cells taken from a patient's body, they have been able to actually print new skin.

In lieu of ink, the scientists load the patient's skin cells into a cartridge, and a computer uses a three dimensional map of the burn scar or wound to guide the printer, the National Defense Education Program reports.

Kyle Binder, a biomedical scientist at the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest, explained, "The bio-printer drops each type of cell precisely where it needs to go."

He added, "The wound gets filled in and then those cells will become new skin."

Once perfected, the new technique will join other cutting-edge scar treatment methods, such as silicone gel sheeting, for use in the biomedical world.

Silicone ointment and gel has been used by some doctors to help reduce the appearance of scars and prevent them from forming after certain cosmetic surgeries.ADNFCR-3015-ID-19646592-ADNFCR

 

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