British doctors are about to conduct the first major trial of “spray-on” skin after the technique saved the life of a man with 90 per cent burns.
The technique, which was developed at Royal Perth Hospital in Australia, is seen as quite revolutionary and this will be the first large-scale trial of it’s use.
The surgeons based at Queen Victoria Hospital, in East Grinstead, West Sussex, have been given approval for the first controlled clinical studies of the technique for burns victims and children with scalds.
The treatment involves taking skin from the patient which is then made into a mesh so that it can cover a larger area.
This is placed over the wound and acts as a lattice on which cultured skin cells are sprayed using an aerosol.
The new technique, removes the need for painful, disfiguring skin grafts, and is being developed to treat other injuries which involve significant skin loss.
It apparently speeds up the healing process and reduces scarring.