New Method To Aid Burn Victims Grow New Skin

Researchers have developed a novel method that measures the limit to which human skin can be stretched, an advance that could help grow new skin for burn victims. Surgeons use various techniques for tissue expansion procedures designed to grow skin in one region of the body to graft it on to another site (sometimes used for burn victims). This procedure stretches the skin, typically, by inflating a balloon with air or silicone under the surface. Skin grows more in regions where it is stretched – during pregnancy, for instance – but stretch it too much and the tissue might break. The new predictive technique could be employed as a method of predicting the limit to which the skin could be stretched. The outermost layer of skin, the stratum corneum, regulates water loss from the body and protects underlying living tissue from germs and the environment, in general. It is pretty tough, protecting the body from extreme temperatures, rough surfaces, and most paper edges. The results could help create new topical medical and cosmetic products.