University design student Isabella Zidek’s concept could “alleviate burns and skin disease”.
Images of the prototype machine
3DPrint.com reported on Zidek’s ‘Viveo’ research project at the University of Applied Sciences in Schwäbisch Gmünd, which could apply 3D printed skin “directly onto the affected areas of a patient”. The skin would contain the patient’s “actual cells, thus eliminating the issue of the skin being rejected by the body”, and in turn “scars would not develop” due to the layering, with the 3D cells integrating “in a healthy manner”.
This contrasts to standard skin transplants, which are “generally not comprehensive” and can cause “rejection, additional wounds” and other issues. Zidek’s project saw her interview medical professionals to help form her concept, including dermatologists and burn specialists alongside physicists and biologists. Having “intensively” studied skin, printing and cell “cultivation and multiplication”, Zidek produced prototypes and models, with the end-result up for an award.
The design would see a cell ‘ink’ made of the patient’s skin cells combine with a liquid hydrogel, which would be applied “with the typical layering of 3D printing […] directly onto the patient’s affected area, one cell after another”. A “wound map” would have been made with a 3D scanner, which dictates where each cell would go, before individual layers are applied. The cell components would actually be stored in a cartridge, allowing for exchange for varying treatments.
A tablet computer would control all of the data for the patient, while the design “aesthetics and ergonomics” saw Zidek use a “soft shape as well as bright colours”. The machine would also be able to be “cleaned easily due to the smooth and modular design”, which in turn would allow for “segments to be removed when being repaired or maintained”. 3DPrint.com highlighted other similar initiatives from Organovo and L’Oréal, and noted the “extremely far-reaching” implications.
Zidek stated: “Physicians and patients are often very sceptical about this technology, because it seems to be strange and is unusual. Often they just don’t have the visual imagination to realise the great potential of this technology. That’s why I saw the opportunity to develop a design concept for a 3D skin cell printer, which visualises the new treatment options and may take the general scepticism away.”