Skin Printing Plays a Role in Treating Injuries
Recently, scientists at a university have announced that they have found a way to use skin printing to help individuals recover from serious injuries. The skin is the largest and most often overlooked organ in the human body. The skin is also the body’s first line of defense against both injuries and illnesses. People can suffer serious injuries to their skin in burn injuries, motorcycle accidents, and more. In order for someone to recover from these events as quickly and completely as possible, it is important for the skin to heal.
If areas of skin remain open to the external environment for an extended period of time, it leaves people at risk of developing serious infections. Now, scientists have announced that they might have found a way to use skin printing to expedite this recovery process. It has the potential to help countless people who suffer serious injuries every year.
Skin Grafting is the Current Treatment Option
Doctors and other medical professionals understand that having the skin open to the external environment is a tremendous risk. Therefore, they take measures to close off this opening as quickly as possible. One such treatment option is called skin grafting.
In this treatment option, doctors move some skin from other areas of the body and use it to cover an open wound. In this procedure, doctors will typically take skin from the inner thigh, where it is thick and has extra folds. Doctors can take some of this skin and move it to cover an open wound without risking the inner thigh.
While this treatment does have the potential to be effective, it does come with risks. Sometimes, the skin doesn’t graft well to the open wound. It isn’t as effective as skin that naturally grows in that area. Furthermore, this limited amount of skin might not be enough to cover the open wound effectively. Alternative treatment options are needed.
The Development of Skin Printing
Scientists have announced the development of a new technology called skin printing. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have been working on this new 3D printing technology for years. Now, they can print living skin that comes complete with living blood vessels. Their study represents a significant step toward creating grafts that are similar to the tissues and organs made by the human body naturally.
One of the barriers to the development of this technology in the past has been the lack of functioning blood vessels. These blood vessels are important for perfusing the skin, keeping it alive. The blood vessels carry oxygen and nutrients throughout the skin cells themselves. Without blood vessels, the skin will not have the resources it needs to survive.
Researchers have found a way to solve this problem. The scientists say that their printed skin comes complete with living blood vessels. This represents a monumental achievement in the world of tissue engineering.
The Next Step: Cellular Editing
The researchers tested their skin grafts on animals and found they were accepted readily. Their technology has passed the first step. The next step is to get its technology ready for human use.
In order to make this happen, the researchers need to edit the donor cells within the printed skin itself. This is important for making sure the patient’s body can accept the skin as its own. Otherwise, it might be rejected and destroyed. If the researchers are able to edit skin printing down to the cellular level, they can make this happen. This young technology has the potential to help millions of people who suffer a serious injury, such as burns and road rash, every year.
Personal Injury Attorneys in Sacramento
I’m Ed Smith, a Sacramento Personal Injury Attorney. Skin printing has the potential to help countless people who suffer a traumatic injury every year. If someone you know is struggling with the injury recovery process due to the negligence of another person or entity, you can call me by using (916) 921-6400 or toll-free at (800) 404-5400.
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Attribution of Photograph: The image used at the beginning of this page was located first at Pixabay.com. The picture has been printed at this location with the permission of the Creative Commons License.
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