New artificial skin

An artificial skin used to heal wounds has been developed by British researchers from Intercytex. Intercytex said that the skin seems to be better integrated with real tissue compared to other skin replacements in the past. Researchers hope new artificial skin could be an option in skin grafts.

Skin patches are replaced with artificial skin.(Photo: alalam.ir)

Currently, the best way to treat severe burns and major wounds is to remove the skin from another part of the patient's body and apply the skin to the affected area. But this is not ideal, so there are efforts to develop artificial skin, although the results are limited.

Now Intercytex has created an artificial skin called ICX-SKN, which is derived from the fibrin gene, a protein that clots blood, and fibroblasts, found in human skin. In the process the body makes new skin, the cells create and release another type of protein, collagen, which makes the skin frame more stable.

In the tests, the researchers cut part of the oval skin in the arms of six healthy volunteers and replaced that skin with a lab-grown skin. After 28 days, artificial skin was stable and wounds healed with relatively small scars.

Ken Dunn, the Burns surgeon consultant at Manchester's Wythenshawe Hospital, said the skin works' similar to the patients ' own skin '.

However, there are some warnings that this skin can only heal small wounds, created by surgery in healthy people, but not necessarily effective in patients with real burns.

According to Dr. Phil Stephens, at Cardiff University, more in-depth research is needed before putting this artificial skin on the market. However, he also said that such a skin type 'can help reduce scarring and cure chronic wounds in older patients, helping them to have better quality of life'.

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