Skin is one of the sense organs in our body. Probably the most important organ. It is widely spread though out the human body.
It is defender for the inner organs. Most of us don’t realise that the skin is the largest organ. Skin shoud be healthy to lead a healthy life. Deep burns,wounds and injuries should be treated as soon as possible.
For those deep wounds,burns and injuries the best way to avoid risks is the skin transplantation.
But for it, there may be an issue of finding a donor immediatly. And for more severe wounds, this skin would need to span across all three layers of skin: The epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis, making it very difficult to find a proper graft.
This issues can be avoided by 3D printing technology. The 3D printing process builds a three-dimensional object from a computer-aided design (CAD) model, usually by successively adding material layer by layer, which is why it is also called additive manufacturing.
3D Skin Printing Technology
Researchers from the University of Toronto has developed a 3D printing model wich can directly implant the “bio-ink” to the patient without taking healthy skin from the donors.
This “bio-ink” directly dispense into the wounded and effected area of the patient.
Researchers believes that it is the first 3d skin printer that can form skin directly on top of a wound, in two minutes or less.
“The unique aspect of this technology is the mobility of the system and the ability to provide on-site management of extensive wounds by scanning and measuring them in order to deposit the cells directly where they are needed to create skin,”
said Sean Murphy, Ph.D.
These printer’s bio-ink is consist of cells mixed with hydrogel. The integrated imaginging technology in tese printers sense the extact location of the wounds. Scans the wounds and send the information to the software which inturns decides what cells needed to cover the wounds with.
“The technology has the potential to eliminate the need for painful skin grafts that cause further disfigurement for patients suffering from large wounds or burns.
A mobile bioprinter that can provide on-site management of extensive wounds could help to accelerate the delivery of care and decrease costs for patients. ”
said WFIRM Director Anthony Atala, M.D.
“If you deliver the patient’s own cells, they do actively contribute to wound healing by organizing up front to start the healing process much faster ,while there are other types of wound healing products available to treat wounds and help them close, those products don’t actually contribute directly to the creation of skin. ”
said James Yoo, M.D., Ph. D
