Made in Sheffield
Dissolvable scaffold for new skin
A team of chemists, materials scientists and tissue engineers at the University, has developed a revolutionary skin reconstruction technology which could provide a safer, more effective way of treating burns, diabetic ulcers and similar injuries.
The scaffold is made from specially developed polymers with fibres 100 times finer than tissue paper. The patient's skin cells are introduced to the scaffold, which attach themselves and multiplying until they eventually grow over it.
When placed over the wound, the scaffold dissolves harmlessly over six to eight weeks, leaving the patient's skin cells behind.