Handheld 3D Printer Could Be Game Changer in Burn and Trauma Care

A new handheld 3D printer that looks sort of like a packing tape dispenser can apply sheets of skin to cover large burn wounds, and its “bio ink” can accelerate the healing process, according to researchers from University of Toronto Engineering and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. The handheld 3D printer can apply sheets of skin to cover large burn wounds. It could be seen in a clinical setting within the next five years, according to researchers. Image courtesy Daria Perevezentsev/University of Toronto Engineering News. The device covers wounds with a uniform sheet of biomaterial, stripe by stripe. The bio ink dispensed by the roller is composed of mesenchymal stroma cells (MSCs) — stem cells that differentiate into specialized cell types depending on their environment. In this case, the MSC material promotes skin regeneration and reduces scarring. Successful in vivo trials on full-thickness wounds are reported in the journal Biofabrication. The paper is a major step forward for the team of researchers, which unveiled the first prototype of the skin printer in 2018, according to an article on the University of Toronto Engineering News website. The device was believed to be the first of its kind to form tissue in situ, depositing and setting in place in two minutes or less. “Previously, we proved that we could deposit cells onto a burn, but there wasn’t any proof that ther...
Source: MDDI - Category: Medical Devices Tags: Plastics Today Source Type: news