SCIENTISTS at Manchester University have developed a printer able to produce human skin to help wounds heal.

It could be used on patients who have suffered burns and disfigurements. With more research it could even replace broken bones.

Using the same principle as an ink-jet printer, experts are able to take skin cells from a patient's body, multiply them, then print out a tailor-made strip of skin, ready to sew on to the body. The wound's dimensions are entered into the printer to ensure a perfect fit.

The printer, which takes up an area equivalent to three filing cabinets, could see the end of traditional skin and bone grafts.

Scientists at the university's School of Materials have already successfully created skin and believe they will soon be able to create bone and cartilage.

Similar printers are being developed in Japan and the US, but the Manchester team is hoping to beat its competitors by being the first to start clinical trials on patients.

Team leader Professor Brian Derby says that they are the only team in the world to work out how to print human cells without destroying them in the process. He said: "There is a fighting chance that something could come of this in five years if there were clinical trials.

"It's not like printing a sheet of paper. We can print a few millimetres in depth and build it up layer-upon-layer until, in principle, we could produce bone fragments the size of a golf ball.

"It is difficult for a surgeon to reconstruct any complex disfiguring of the face using CT scans, but with this technology we are able to build a fragment which will fit exactly. We can place cells in any designed position to grow tissue or bone."

For the last two years, researchers have been testing the printer using human cell samples taken from patients having hip implants at the Manchester Royal Infirmary.

The cells are put into a special printer ink liquid and artificially multiplied.

Then, the printer prints the cells on to a plastic surface, which acts like a scaffold to support the cells. Experts say that the plastic could then be surgically attached to the damaged part of the body and the plastic would dissolve naturally, allowing the body to use the strip of cells to repair the injury.

The printer would revolutionise current treatments, which are based on grafting skin or bone from other parts of the body or replacing broken bones with metal plates. These carry carry a risk of scarring and possible rejection by the body.

But Professor Derby said that they are still working out how to print cells on to the 3D plastic scaffolds to produce bone or cartilage.

He said: "In theory, you could print the scaffolding to create an organ in a day, but we are not quite there yet."

Source

yeah

I worked at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio texas, which happens to be the Military Burn center. When soldiers get severe burns they are always sent there for rehab.

Seeing how horrible burns are, how much pain is involved in the rehabilitation I am glad to see that advancements are being made. Very often the skin that is used to cover burns are donated from cadavers that have been left to science; which works well enough, but does have a pretty high "ick: factor...

Well you know if we didnt fight with each other then virtually the whole world could live easy lives. No soldiers, no guns. No soldiers with burns. But then they say im insane.

Thats true Novo, but its human nature to compete and fight with each other to be the best and most dominant!

This is amazing technology that will hopefully really help many people and led to even better technologies in this field!

As I can't think of a single day in the history of mankind that didn't have some sort of a war going on; that is not going to happen.

It is human nature...

Then what am I?

You are as human as the rest of us. I've heard you comment many times about the fights that you've been...wars are the same thing on a larger scale. It would take a world full of Ghandis to get along peaceably, and that will never happen. Regardless of who is the agressor; wars are wars...

I fight, but only when im forced to. And even then, I think long and hard about it. The only fight I have even been in, in a 2 year period has been when I was jumped. And that was a life and death situation. Thats like telling ghandi his views are hopeless because he shot a mugger.

So Novo, have you ever attacked/damaged another persons/companies/government property? regardless of how well justified you feel you were that is the same type of agression that leads to war...

So your saying, that shooting someone and burning a gun is comparable?

In a sense...attacking someones personal property is apt to start a fight. It doesn't matter by what moral grounds you claim, it is still an attack.

In example; If I think that skateboarding is the downfall of the young generation and go about taking a hacksaw to every skateboard I see on the street in order to stop people from doing what I see as a negative thing, I am breaking several laws and apt to get into fights over it.

I am imposing my opinion and will on others whether they like it or not, and forcing them to fight to protect their own property.

Ah, But what if I liked to beat people to death with my skateboard? Or, what if skateboards were created for the purpose of destructive behavior? Then could it not be argued that what you did, while not justifiable by law actully resulted in a LESSER amount of violence in the world?

Not if they legally owned the skateboard. The skateboard is just a tool; you can skate on it...roll furniture around the house on it...keep the mad dog down the street from biting you with it...or if worse comes to worse you can whack someone upside the head with it.

Either way if the skateboard is owned legally; it is someones property. If they are in the act of commiting a crime with the skateboard the police could get involved and handle things in a legal manner. Just the assumption that something bad could be done with the skateboard does not give you as a private citizen the right to impose your will on another person or person property. To damage someones skateboard forces the skateboard owner to fight to protect their own property. You would be imposing your own will on someone else and starting a fight.

Just like in Iraq. We thought that Saddam had Skateboards of Mass Destruction and we went over there to stop him from using his skateboards on us.

That hasn't gone to well has it?
(My apologies to the owner of this thread for going so far off topic)

My apologies for straying off-topic as well. So, we thought saddam had "Skateboards" of mass destruction. Wow, were both just chocked full of metaphors today eh? So, the area were having trouble agreeing on is this one-Its is human nature to fight(or so you say). Im not disagreeing with that. All Im saying, is there are people like myself in this world who focus souley on diminishing the amount of violence in the world. Were fighting war, not wars.
Thats the difference, Maybe there is none. Maybe its all the same, but what are we going to fight our wars with when all the dictators, nations and guns are gone? Seems to me we wouldnt have much choice but to grow up, (as a species) and get along for a change. We have logic, there is no human nature.
Thats like comparing a dog to a human. Dogs follow instincts, while humans can be harmed and keep going back to the same thing(the thing harming them in the instance) on a regular basis. Hit a dog, and it will run away from you. It will probably be afraid of you for the continuation of its life, it will not know why only that it is. That is Instinct, and Nature.
Humans arent anything like this, whee inquisitive. Intelligent, and we have free will. We CHOOSE to fight with each other, its self destructive behavior. Noted as a sign of insanity, so what do you do when entire nations are behaving this way?
Well what would you do if you saw a 5 year old kid walking around with a .45? You would take away his gun. Humans need to grow up, as a entire species. And until that realization dawns on the majority, then as I have stated numerous times. I will continue to do what I see as the only sane course of action.