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, developed by a team of researchers from the University of Toronto Engineering and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, covers wounds with a uniform sheet of biomaterial, stripe by stripe. The bio ink dispensed by the roller is composed of mesenchymal stroma 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 research team’s successful in-vivo trials on full-thickness wounds are reported in the journal Biofabrication.
The paper is a major step forward for the team, which 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.
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.
In case of big burns, sufficient healthy skin won’t be available, which could lead to patient deaths.
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 this handheld skin printer could be seen in a clinical setting within the next five years.
News Source: U of T Engineering
