Beginning surgery! … Scalpel? Check! … Forceps? Check! … 3D printer?!!? What the—?
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Nothing lasts forever! Except… to-do lists, red wine stains… and SCARS. Delicate skin, like the face or scalp, may scar long-term. But why settle?
Youngnam Kang and team from Penn State University have other ideas. They collected stem cells and connective components from human fat. The team combined these with other important factors into a 3-D-printer to make… SKIN!
First, this mix was printed INTO wounds on rats. This bioprinted skin was then compared to normal wound healing skin.
The surgical results? Photos of their skin AND skin cell imaging showed THIRTY percent better signs of healing! Healthy functioning skin cells were present in bioprinted skin, just like normally healed skin. There was even evidence of the bioprinted skin making room for hair follicles!
Bioprinting skin directly into an injury may reduce scarring and improve healing after surgery.
Hmm… 3-D printer research is rather… SKIN-teresting!
Reference: Kang, Y. et al. Intraoperative bioprinting of human adipose-derived stem cells and extra-cellular matrix induces hair follicle-like downgrowths and adipose tissue formation during full-thickness craniomaxillofacial skin reconstruction. Bioactive Materials, Vol 33 p.114-128 (2024).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioactmat.2023.10.034