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3D Bioprinter Creates "Living Bandage" Skin Grafts For Burn Victims

Posted by samzenpus on from the new-skin dept.

concertina226 writes Engineering students from the University of Toronto have developed a 3D bioprinter that can rapidly create artificial skin grafts from a patient's cells to help treat burn victims. In severe burn injuries, both the epidermis (outer layer of the skin) and the dermis (inner layer) are severely damaged, and it usually takes at least two weeks for skin cells to be grown in a laboratory to be grafted onto a patient. As both layers of skin are made from completely different cells that have different structures, it is very difficult for the body to regenerate itself and burn victims can die if their wounds cannot be closed quickly enough. So instead of trying to replicate a real human skin graft, the PrintAlive Bioprinter creates a type of "living bandage" from hydrogel.

26 comments

  1. it's Alive! by turkeydance · · Score: 3, Informative

    patent pending.

    1. Re:it's Alive! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      All you need is a steady supply of soylent green to print with...

  2. Re:Could this print penis extensions? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Could this be used to, say, print an extension for one's penis?

    It's not for me, of course, it's for a friend.

  3. Psst. It's 3D printing for LIFE EXTENSION. by jeffb+(2.718) · · Score: 1

    I repeat. It's 3D PRINTING FOR LIFE EXTENSION -- specifically, preserving the life of patients who would otherwise face a fairly quick (and extremely painful) death.

    I'm listening for that faint sound of a certain Fark refugee's skull rupturing in the distance.

    1. Re:Psst. It's 3D printing for LIFE EXTENSION. by mysidia · · Score: 1

      I repeat. It's 3D PRINTING FOR LIFE EXTENSION

      Next up.... the singularity.

    2. Re:Psst. It's 3D printing for LIFE EXTENSION. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh I see - dying is too easy. This keeps them alive so they can experience extreme pain much longer.

    3. Re:Psst. It's 3D printing for LIFE EXTENSION. by spickus · · Score: 1

      He would comment but his posts are being censored.

      --
      Indecision is the key to flexibility.
  4. Re:Could this print penis extensions? by davester666 · · Score: 1

    Sure, you're disappointed he's so small...

    --
    Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
  5. Sounds great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Can I have my foreskin back now?

  6. And the source of the "ink"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Is the source of the "ink" the stolen body parts from infant boys?

    A pretty sick industry that promotes mutilation for profit.

  7. We already have skin regeneration by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 2

    There's already a device to regenerate skin for burn victims. It heals burns in a few days.

    --
    Support my political activism on Patreon.
    1. Re:We already have skin regeneration by schneidafunk · · Score: 1

      Not available for view in my country :(

      --
      Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75. -Benjamin Franklin
    2. Re: We already have skin regeneration by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Haven't seen the video (again not available in my country), but Spray-on Skin (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spray-on_skin) has been around since 1993.

      So this is more or less the same goal using different manufacturing techniques.

      Not as new in concept as the fine article makes it sound.

  8. Re:Two weeks? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Someone downmod this stupid fucking $hill.

  9. Sad this thread is 3/4 Trolls by Scottingham · · Score: 1

    As a motorcycle rider, I welcome this awesome advancement in bio-3d printing. Wake Forest is also doing some incredible stuff with this technology. I'm hoping they can use the superior 3d printing capabilities of stereo-lithography to create a super-detailed biomesh that can later have cells grafted onto it. Currently we have to strip off the cells of a donor organ to get the structure then put the patient's cells in a slurry over that. While that is still amazing, creating the scaffolding is the next big ticket.

    1. Re:Sad this thread is 3/4 Trolls by gstoddart · · Score: 1

      As a motorcycle rider, I welcome this awesome advancement in bio-3d printing.

      I haven't ridden in years, but I spent some time trackside at races and knew a lot of people who rode ... this is cool sounding technology, but in the case of motorcyclists, wear some proper safety gear.

      I have seen people riding a motorcycle in essentially cut off shorts.

      If that isn't setting yourself up to need a skin graft, I don't know what would be.

      Cordura is your friend, and seems to be much more effective that leather for this stuff.

      If I went back to riding a motorcycle, my first investment would be some really good gear. Who cares if it's hot and uncomfortable? So is getting a skin graft.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    2. Re:Sad this thread is 3/4 Trolls by Scottingham · · Score: 1

      Oh yes, I am full gear all the time! But most riders, like you said, don't have anything on but the legally required helmet (in some states not even that!).

  10. Another use for a 3d Scanner by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    With what started out as a joke between a friend of mine and I might actually be something really useful...

    3d printed limited lifetime bras. That fit. Correctly.

    Make all the jokes about I'm just coming up with a way to scan lots of breasts, but based upon the number of complaints of my friends, a household device that was dedicated to scanning your breasts *today* and printing a bra *today*, just might have an amazing market place. Especially if that was just the intended feature set and the scanner and printer could be used for other things.