Spraying Stem Cells Heals Skin Faster

A futuristic spray gun, similar in concept to an inkjet printer, sprays new infused skin onto a wound, essentially speeding up the healing process to a matter of hours.

Researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center (Winston-Salem, NC, USA), the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine (MIRM, Pittsburgh, PA, USA) and other institutions forming part of the U.S. Armed Forces Institute for Regenerative Medicine (AFIRM) are developing a handheld spray gun that spurts a thin layer of keratinocytes (immature skin cells) over deep skin wounds. The keratinocytes, harvested from the patient, are stored in cartridges along with a mix of growth factors and special nutrients; after being sprayed on the wound, they then "print” layers of skin tissue directly onto the wounds. The other essential part of the process is an innovative wound dressing; enmeshed in what looks like a traditional dressing is in reality a bioreactor; tubes extend from each end of the dressing, one doing the work of an artery, the other of a vein. When connected to an artificial vascular system the bioreactor bandage distributes glucose, sugar, amino acids, antibiotics, and electrolytes to the treated area. It cleans the wound, provides nutrition, and better supports the stem cells in the wound until they start to grow and regenerate new skin for the patient.

The procedure has been performed successfully at the Berlin Burn Center (Germany) where in a clinical test of the spray gun on 16 burn patients excellent healing was achieved after one to three weeks. In over a period of up to six weeks, the cells grew into functional skin, including dermis, epidermis, and blood vessels; and because the patient's own pigment cells were included in the mix, the new skin appeared natural. The conventional approach of grafting, in comparison, takes just as long but requires three times as much skin and often results in patchwork scarring.

"What we're doing is taking the cells, isolating them, and, in the same procedure on the same day, we're putting the cells onto the wound,” said the cell-spraying device developer Jorg Gerlach, M.D., Ph.D., of MIRM. "The progenitor cells can act immediately. The most critical cells are present, and we are using those cells right away from the patient. We just need to take care that we are distributing the cells nicely over the wound.”

AFIRM has multiple research teams working in several fields, including burn repair, wound healing without scarring, craniofacial reconstruction, limb reconstruction, regeneration or transplantation, and compartment syndrome, a condition related to inflammation after surgery or injury that can lead to increased pressure, impaired blood flow, nerve damage, and muscle death.


Related Links:
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine
Berlin Burn Center