UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is reporting that scientists at the University of Sheffield have developed a dissolvable tissue scaffold for growing new skin in patients status post burns, diabetic ulcers, etc:
This ultra-fine, 3-dimensional scaffold, which is made from specially developed polymers, looks similar to tissue paper but has fibres 100 times finer. Before it is placed over a wound, the patient’s skin cells (obtained via a biopsy) are introduced and attach themselves to the scaffold, multiplying until they eventually grow over it. When placed over the wound, the scaffold dissolves harmlessly over 6 to 8 weeks, leaving the patient’s skin cells behind…
“Simplicity is the key,” says Professor Tony Ryan, who is leading the team. “Previous attempts to find better ways of encouraging skin cell growth have used chemical additives and other elaborate techniques to produce scaffolds, but their success has been limited. We’ve found that skin cells are actually very ‘smart’ – it’s in their DNA to sort themselves into the right arrangement. They just need a comparatively uncomplicated scaffold (and each other) to help them grow in a safe, natural way.”
The polymers used in the scaffold are biodegradable materials already approved for medical applications. Because the team has recognised that skin cells are ‘smart’ and the scaffold can therefore be ‘dumb’ (i.e. not overly sophisticated), simple polymers can be used.
The process for making the scaffolds is based on the well-known technique of electrospinning. However, the team has made a key advance by developing a new method of making, from the same biodegradable polymers, aligned-fibre ‘mats’ of potential use in promoting nerve or tendon growth. This method is currently being patented.
According to EPSRC, the technology is already in the commercialized stage, in the form of Myskin™, a product of CellTran Limited.
View Myskin™ product site…
CellTran site…
EPSRC press release…