"3D skin printer" will be developed that covers the wound with living tissue and treats it

The possibility that 3D printers possess is very large,Make a house with a 3D printer"Place a steel bridgeThe project is progressing. Meanwhile, using a 3D printer that can be carried by hand, the method of covering the wound with living tissue and treating itLab on a ChipWas announced.

Handheld skin printer: in situ formation of planar biomaterials and tissues - Lab on a Chip (RSC Publishing)
http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2018/lc/c7lc01236e

U of T researchers develop portable 3D skin printer to repair deep wounds
https://www.utoronto.ca/news/u-t-researchers-develop-portable-3d-skin-printer-repair-deep-wounds

The research group at the University of Toronto announced a method to deposit and treat the skin tissue in the wound with a 3D printer in the treatment of deep cuts and the like. If you injured your deep skin,Epidermis·Dermis·Subcutaneous tissueThree layers are sometimes hurt, in general, healthy skinSkin graftTreatment is taken to transplant in the form of.

With large cuts, it is difficult to collect enough skin tissue to cover all three layers, leaving a portion of the wound uncovered. In such a case, it is natural that healing effect by skin graft will be reduced.

The research team developed a method to use a 3D printer weighing only 2 pounds (about 900 grams) to instantly treat such a big wound. In this way, it is an abundant protein in the dermis from the 3D printercollagen, Contributing to the treatment of woundsFibrinIt is said that you can inject "bio ink" composed of biomaterial mixed with other materials and fill the wound.


A sheet of living tissue with uniform thickness and almost the same width can be obtained from the 3D printer. The research team has already been conducting research to the stage of animal experiments, and he said that he succeeded in depositing living tissue on a resected wound model for mice and pigs.

If this research is put to practical use, it is possible to treat burns and cuts in just a few minutes, and it seems that skillful skills are not needed to handle 3D printers. The team said that it will be possible to prepare living tissues according to individual patients, and the researchers are planning further research.