Use of a Handheld Skin Printer Improves Regeneration of Burn Injuries
Miniaturizing bioprinters to allow finely controlled printing directly onto (or into) the body is an important logistical advance in this part of the tissue engineering field. It allows for a much more efficient approach to building up new tissue where needed, such as injured skin. Researchers here demonstrate that their implementation of a handheld skin printer accelerates regeneration of severe burn injuries in animal models, suggesting they are a fair way along the road to having something that can be converted into a viable product for widespread use.
A new handheld 3D printer can deposit sheets of skin to cover large burn wounds - and its "bio ink" can accelerate the healing process. The device covers wounds with a uniform sheet of biomaterial, stripe by stripe. The bio ink dispensed by the roller is composed of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) - stem cells that differentiate into specialized cell types depending on their environment. In this case, the MSC material promotes skin regeneration and reduces scarring. The team unveiled the first prototype of the skin printer in 2018. The device was believed to be the first device of its kind to form tissue in situ, depositing and setting in place in two minutes or less. "Previously, we proved that we could deposit cells onto a burn, but there wasn't any proof that there were any wound-healing benefits - now we've demonstrated that."
The current method of care for burns is autologous skin grafting, which requires transplantation of healthy skin from other parts of the body onto the wound. But large, full-body burns pose a greater challenge. Full-thickness burns are characterized by the destruction of both the outermost and innermost layers of the skin; these burns often cover a significant portion of the body.
Since 2018, the printer has gone through 10 redesigns, as the team moves towards a design they envision surgeons using in an operating room. The current prototype includes a single-use microfluidic printhead to ensure sterilization, and a soft wheel that follows the track of the printhead, allowing for better control for wider wounds. The researchers believe that the handheld skin printer could be seen in a clinical setting within the next five years. "Once it's used in an operating room, I think this printer will be a game changer in saving lives. With a device like this, it could change the entirety of how we practice burn and trauma care."