Today’s Solutions: November 21, 2024

When it comes to skin transplants, there are several challenges that affect the success of these complex surgical operations. On top of a lack of harvest organ availability, there is also the risk that the donor skin graft will be rejected by the patient. What’s more, skin grafts may require multiple surgical procedures and often result in scarring.

Fortunately, a recent breakthrough from the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) points to a future where bioprinters solve most of these problems and make the need for donor skin a thing of the past.

“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, assistant professor at WFIRM.

What’s particularly attractive about these devices is that they would use the patient’s own cells, thus eliminating the risk of the skin being rejected. Blending the cells together with a hydrogel, the machine would then proceed to print bi-layered skin onto a wound, essentially mimicking skin’s natural healing process, but at a much faster rate.

“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,” said WFIRM Director Anthony Atala, co-author of the paper.

The bioprinter is still in its trial phase, so the researchers are now evaluating its long-term function to ensure the bioprinted tissue will hold up outside the lab.

Solutions News Source Print this article
More of Today's Solutions

Changemakers of the week: GRuB and SparkNJ

Every day on the Optimist Daily, we report on solutions from around the world. Though we love solutions big and small, the ones that ...

Read More

The giant beneath the waves: world’s largest coral found in the Pacific

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In a world where bad news about the environment routinely outweighs good news, scientists have discovered an incredible ...

Read More

Tortoise discovered in a home in Pompeii

Almost 2000 years after the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius and its trapping of the city of Pompeii in time, archaeologists are still making discoveries ...

Read More

Revel at the most detailed image of our universe yet

Here at The Optimist Daily, we have been sharing every exciting step of the James Webb Telescope’s journey, from its long-awaited launch, to when ...

Read More