Knights of the Pain Table

Cell Spray Gun

‘So if we can find a way to get as much normal healthy skin as we want within a week – well that is the holy grail of burn surgery.’

Dr Steven Wolf, of the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research in San Antonio

When someone receives second degree burns, the standard method of regenerating skin takes weeks and sometimes months, during which time patients can die from infection. The grafts, that can take weeks, are extremely painful as well as risky.

At the University of Pittsburgh’s McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Doctor Jörg Gerlach has discovered a method which regenerates healthy skin stem cells from the victim and sprays it on the burned skin.

The doctor has created a medical device that can spray the skin cells. The stem cells from the healthy part of the patient’s skin are isolated and then added to a solution. The solution is then loaded in the spray gun which sprays the cells accurately, via a spray mechanism, over the burned area. This allows the area to re-grow the skin. The total process takes approximately 90 minutes. The healing occurs in days rather than weeks.

Matthew Uram, a state police officer from Pennsylvania, was one of the first people to be treated by the gun after he received severe second degree burns after attending a friend’s July 5th party. Listen to Matthew’s miraculous recovery.

In adult organisms, stem cells and progenitor cells act as a repair system for the body. Stem cells can now be grown and transformed into specialized cell types with characteristics consistent with cells of various tissues such as muscles or nerves through cell culture.

So far Doctor Jörg Gerlach has treated over a dozen patients successfully. We think this is truly a great discovery as it will reduce so much suffering that patients endure when they are burned. We hope to see this treatment option in every centre. Thank you Doctor Jörg Gerlach.

To see more breakthroughs in medicine watch National Geographic Channel’s How to Build a Beating Heart. The programme delves into the science of tissue engineering and shows how scientists are beginning to harness the body’s natural powers to grow skin, muscle, body parts and vital organs, even hearts.
Burn Victims Helped by Skin Gun that Sprays Their Own Regenerated Skin Stem Cells

Source: Daily Mail

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: Burns, Cell Spray Gun, Doctor Jörg Gerlach, Dr Steven Wolf, How to Build a Beating Heart

This entry was posted by Lady Sharon on Monday, February 14th, 2011 at 9:06 pm and is filed under Medical Studies for Thou, Pain Conditions and Diseases. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.