Institute uses ink-jet cartridges to 'print' skin for wounded soldiers

[The Straight Story]

Institute uses ink-jet cartridges to 'print' skin for wounded soldiers

By Bob Brewin 05/10/2010

Researchers at Wake Forest University have found a way to use everyday ink-jet printers to quickly create skin for soldiers with life-threatening burns from the battlefield.

Scientists at the Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine have figured out how to use sterile ink-jet cartridges and printer heads to bioprint skin cells in three-dimensional patterns, building up the tissue in layers, said Dr. Anthony Atala, director of the institute said in an interview.

Using modified ink-jet printers has greatly accelerated the method of growing tissues, which in the past has been laboriously done by hand. Burns account for about one in 10 war wounds, so the demand for speed has driven research in skin grafting. The Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine funded the Wake Forest project.

The process basically works this way: Different types of skin cells are placed in wells of a sterilized ink cartridge. The printer is programmed to arrange the cells in a specific order, an innovative adaption of technology that allows scientists to precisely arrange multiple cell types and other tissue components into predetermined locations.

http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20100510_3447.php?oref=topnews

[cliffordu]

1. I gotta say, that's about as kewell as it gets.

Of course the right thing to do would be not burning the shit out of them in the first place......

[pinboy3niner]

3. Medical advances are an "unintended consequence" of war

After I was wounded in VN, the Army performed experimental bone graft surgery on me. Worked great for a while, but eventually failed and had to be re-done--twice--seven years later. I remember a lot of new things being tried back then to improve treatment of traumatic combat injuries--and many of them did prove successful and led to even further improvements.

Like you said, we shouldn't be maiming human beings in the first place . . .

[Kitty Herder]

2. That's amazing. nt

[JuniperLea]

4. I saw this in a medical documentary years ago!

I'm so happy to see it put into practice!