Engineered alternative skin for partial and full-thickness burns

Wessels, Quenton (2014) Engineered alternative skin for partial and full-thickness burns. Bioengineered, 5 (3). pp. 161-164. ISSN 2165-5987

Abstract

Engineered alternative skin in all its forms and shapes serve to provide temporary or permanent wound closure such as in the case of partial and full-thickness burns. The need for collagen-based regeneration templates is motivated by the fact that dermal regeneration of full-thickness injuries does not occur spontaneously and is inundated by contraction and scarring. Partial-thickness burns in turn can regress as a result of infection and improper treatment and require appropriate treatment. Nylon-silicone laminates such as Biobrane(®), and more recently AWBAT(®), address this by serving as a temporary barrier. Enhanced collagen-based scaffolds today, although not perfect, remain invaluable. Our initial approach was to characterize the design considerations and explore the use of collagen in the fabrication of a dermal regeneration matrix and a silicone-nylon bilaminate. Here we expand our initial research on scaffold fabrication and explore possible strategies to improve the outcome of collagen-scaffold medicated wound healing.