Wound treatment, especially for burns, hasn’t undergone too many changes over the past decade. Apart from skin grafting, which in itself is a painstaking process, there hasn’t been too many alternatives that are safe and efficient. Solutions like restoring skin artificially may sound like something straight out of a sci fi novel but scientists all across the world have been hard at work to make this a reality. Most recently, researchers from the University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering have created a device that could start a revolution in this field. Let us now take a look at this game changing new invention to understand how it could be used to help people affected by minor to major burns.
The researchers essentially created a 3d printer that can deposit sheets of skin to cover burn wounds while its bioink can even accelerate the healing process. Moreover, this 3d printer is also portable making it that much more convenient. The device works by covering the affected areas with a uniform sheet of biomaterial, stripe by stripe.
By using stem cells capable of transforming into appropriate cell types based on their environment, the bio ink dispensed by the roller facilitates skin regenerations and also reduces scarring. It is also believed to be the first of its kind to form tissues in situ which can deposit and set in place in two minutes or less.
Successful trials to treat full thickness wounds have also been carried out and a prototype of the device was released in 2018. Prior to this, there was no proof of wound healing properties through the deposition of cells onto a burn. But with this new development, the researchers have shown that such benefits can actually be extracted through the same.
The researchers have also been constantly working to improve the efficiency of the device. Since its announcement, it has been subjected to more than 10 design changes so as to bring it into operating rooms all around the world as soon as possible. The current version uses a use and throw microfluidic printhead to ensure sterilization and a soft wheel to follow the track of the printhead for better control.
Current treatments, as mentioned earlier, involve grafting skin from healthy parts of the body to the affected areas. But more serious burns, where both the outermost and innermost layers are heavily damaged pose a bigger problem. Apart from being able to solve this issue, the researchers believe that in the future, the device will be able to further reduce scarring and help in wound healing as well. With such impressive and useful features, there is no doubt that these devices will end up in operating rooms as per the vision of the researchers.