Introduction: Skin tissue engineered solutions have been adopted into clinical practice to treat all types of wounds ranging from burn injuries to chronic wound care. However, many current cell-based systems have limitations including cellular run off and complex culturing methods. Due to these limitations, cells and their delivery systems are often adjunct treatment modalities in the management of burns. The use of highly advanced delivery systems to build constructs that represent the native human skin are the forefront of research and in this study we evaluate the use of a robotic 3D bio-printer in-situ to promote tissue regeneration and repair.
Methodology: The LIGO, a robotic 3D bio-printing system, can deliver a cell-based construct of varying depths and sizes and allows for printing skin by layers in-situ. We assessed the safety and delivery of different autologous cell types derived from split thickness skin grafts, on wounds generated in a porcine model.
Results: The results from this study demonstrated the safety of the use of the LIGO system in-situ and an increase in re-epithelisation rate in 3D printed skin compared to healing by secondary intention. The outcomes from this study have enabled the translation to a first in human clinical trial and protocol development is underway.
Conclusion: The results from this pre-clinical study demonstrated its safety and efficacy in treating controlled and non-complicated wounds. The use of this delivery system in tissue regeneration is a promising step in the advances for skin tissue engineering.