Printed Skin: Technology Straight from Star Trek

This printer, announced on CNN, uses cells taken from the patient. These cells are encouraged to reproduce and the multiplied cells are put into a type of printer cartridge, which is attached to the skin printer itself.

This skin printer is held a short distance from the wound and sprays the cells upon the treatment area. At no time does this device actually touch the wound, so it more resembles the skin sprays that Dr. McCoy used during Star Trek than an actual printer in use. It is described as resembling a flat-bed scanner, but first-generation devices are always bulky and could foreseeably be reduced in size in the future. The sprayed-on cells continue to reproduce and mature to become your real skin.

While this technology is being developed for burn victims and wounded soldiers it will have an incredible benefit to all types of injuries. For instance, victims of accidents or serious infections sometimes have to undergo skin grafts to replace large swaths of tissue. The skin on a less obvious area is stretched until large enough and then when ready it is cut away from the original location and placed upon the open wound.

In the past physicians would grow body parts together in hopes of creating a viable skin graft. After my father's leg was crushed in an accident his two legs were grown together in one grafting attempt. The skin was prepped by scraping it and then the legs were casted together for a period of time after which they were separated, leaving an amount of skin and flesh on the leg needing the graft. His multiple grafts resulted in several scars from the procedures but with skin printing this pain and scarring would be eliminated. If the printed skin did not take the doctors could simply try again by printing some more!

Other injuries that would normally result in excessive scarring could be treated by this method as well. Printing new cells over the damaged tissue could avoid embarrassing scars in a number of injuries--not just for burns.

The Wake Forest Institute's project could potentially change the lives of millions, perhaps even save the lives of severely injured victims. Progress like this gives me great hope for humanity's future. Thank you Wake Forest!