“A team of bioengineers from Columbia University in New York in the United States is revolutionizing open-edged skin grafts, perhaps the largest redesign of the technique launched in the 1980s.” design the skin as a fully enclosed 3D fabric.
New skin that can be molded from a body part and planted without problems, works like wearing a biological suit. To do this, the team developed a technique to enlarge skin designed into complex three-dimensional shapes. In this model, the vaccine for a severely burned hand may be in the form of a “glove” of seamless cells.
Professor Hasan Erbil Abaci, the main developer of the project, stated in his statement that the advantages of the biological suit will “greatly reduce the need for stitches, shorten the time of surgeries and improve aesthetic results”. In addition, continuous 3D grafts, better mechanical and functional properties than traditional surgical procedures
How are 3D skin grafts made?
The creation of the new skin graft model begins with 3D laser scanning of the target structure, which may be a human hand, for example. With this mold, a hollow and permeable model of the organ is created using computerized design and a 3D printer. This procedure is similar to the one used to make flat skin. and takes the same amount of time (three weeks).
Only difference – the so-called three-dimensional scaffolding – It is added as a 3D substrate to the model seeded with fibroblasts (young cells) from the skin, which will produce connective tissue and structural protein (collagen). The outside of the mold is covered with a mixture of keratinocytes (epidermal cells); and the interior interspersed with growth medium.
The team envisions that in the future new grafts may be custom-made. patient skin samples measuring only 4×4 mm.
ARTICLE – Science Advances – DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ade2514.
Source: Tec Mundo
I’m Blaine Morgan, an experienced journalist and writer with over 8 years of experience in the tech industry. My expertise lies in writing about technology news and trends, covering everything from cutting-edge gadgets to emerging software developments. I’ve written for several leading publications including Gadget Onus where I am an author.
