Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine develops mobile 3D bio-printer to heal extensive wounds

A team of scientists from the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) claims that it has developed a mobile 3D bio-printer capable of printing skin directly onto large wounds. As explained in the paper, the early treatment and rapid closure of acute chronic wounds is essential for normal healing and prevention of hypertrophic scarring. However, availability of a suitable area of healthy donor skin to harvest is often limited. Additionally, treatments usually involve multiple surgical procedures and are associated with high costs of production and repeated wound treatment. The WFIRM could have a solution as they’ve developed a new bioprinting process that enables rapid on-site management of extensive wounds.

A mobile 3D printer to heal extensive wounds on site

For now, the experiments were conducted on mice and pigskin. Therefore, we are still a long time away from seeing this technology applied to humans. Nevertheless it remains a promising technique that could have many applications in treating wounds in a personalised way by bioprinting directly onto patients.

Mobile 3D bio-printer from WFIRM

In general, bioprinting already has many applications in the medical sector. Whether we are talking about organ transplants, finding more effective treatments for illnesses, healing wounds or producing tissues and blood vessels, bioprinting is key. In fact, one of the main advantages of this technology is that it can offer tailor-made treatments, adapted to the needs of each patient. Research such as the one conducted by the WFIRM is only the beginning of the many improvements to come in the field of regenerative medicine.