Materials preparation and artificial skin graft

Abstract

The composite cultured skin was created through successive cultivation of fibroblasts and keratinocytes which were combined within a collagen matrix. This collagen matrix was composed of a collagen spongy sheet and a collagen gel. The collagen spongy sheet was designed to produce a honeycomb structure with many holes in which all holes through the sheet were filled with collagen gel. This specific structure allows for the nourishment of the cultured keratinocytes on the surface of the matrix when placed on the graft bed. In this study, autologous composite cultured skin was applied to a 51-year-old male who had sustained a burn injury. Three sheets of the composite cultured skin (6 cm × 9.5 cm) were grafted onto the full-thickness excised skin defect in the right anterior chest wall. One week after grafting, most of the matrix disappeared, and stratified keratinocytes were seen to have firmly attached to the underlying tissue. Five weeks after grafting, a corn-fed epidermal layer was seen. Ten months after grafting, a mature epidermis and a well-differentiated papillary and reticular dermis were observed. The physical properties and colour of this grafted area resembles that of normal skin. In the second test case, autologous composite cultured skin was applied to a 30-year-old male who had resulted in scarring after the removal of a tattoo. Eight sheets of the composite cultured skin (10 cm × 18 cm) were applied on an excised surface (thickness (20–25)/1000 in) of both the forearm and the upper arm. The histological appearance of a biopsied skin specimen from the grafted area of three months after grafting shows a mature epidermis and a well-differentiated reticular dermis.