Substitute Skin

Paper Summary:

This paper explains the demand for substitute skin is because (1) the loss of significant amounts of this layer can result in functional morbidity or death and (2) the many burn injuries and dermatological disorders such as chronic skin ulcers and nevi excision, which require substitute skin. The author points out that, to design a skin substitute, it is necessary to replace both the dermal and epidermal layers because the dermal layer cannot spontaneously regenerate in humans and the epidermal layer is needed as protection for underlying dermis. The paper relates that the three main types of temporary skin substitutes, which are used for coverage of wounds that do not completely eliminate the dermis or for areas where skin is being removed as a donor site, are allograft, synthetic, and bio-synthetic; whereas, the two main types of permanent skin replacements are bio-synthetic and biologic, but many of the newer types of artificial skin being developed are a combination of both categories.

From the Paper:

"The basic design criteria specified by Yannas and Burke have become standards used to fabricate new skin alternatives. These criteria utilize two separate stages of design. The initial stage involves keeping bacteria out of the body and retaining water within the body [9]. Once these goals have been met, a second long-term stage involves improvement of cosmetic appearance and tissue scarring, minimizing contracture of the skin, and anchoring to the underlying tissue [9]. In addition, it is assumed that the skin is non-toxic. Researchers have added several more goals to the design criteria since the original publication by Yannas and Burke. These goals are to make the artificial skin easy to store and use and to produce it inexpensively [7] as well as reducing heat loss and pain in the area and providing a hypoxic area wherein wound healing would occur faster."

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