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Severe burns and trauma often leave patients with scarring and incomplete healing because current grafts replace only the skin’s surface layer, not the deeper dermis that contains blood vessels and nerves. A research team led by Johan Junker, Associate Professor at Linköping University, has taken an important step toward creating artificial skin that more closely mimics the real thing. Their findings, published in Advanced Healthcare Materials, outline two complementary 3D bioprinting approaches designed to generate thick, vascularized skin capable of supporting long-term tissue survival.
In one method, the team developed a specialized bio-ink called μInk, which contains fibroblasts—cells that build dermal components like collagen—embedded in spongy gelatine grains within a hyaluronic acid gel. Using 3D printing, they created cell-rich structures that, when transplanted into mice, successfully grew new tissue, secreted collagen, and formed blood vessels. These results show that the artificial skin had the key ingredients needed for long-term integration and regeneration.
The second technique, called REFRESH (Rerouting of Free-Floating Suspended Hydrogel Filaments), focuses on building blood vessel networks. By printing threads of hydrogel that can be tied, braided, and later dissolved by enzymes, the researchers produced hollow channels that act like blood vessels. This allows nutrients and oxygen to penetrate thick tissue layers, preventing cell death in the core. They even managed to form complex 3D networks of vessel-like structures, suggesting this method could be scaled up to support artificial organs.
While further testing is needed to address challenges like inflammation and infection risk, these technologies represent a major advance in regenerative medicine. By combining μInk’s cell-dense skin structures with REFRESH’s customizable vascular networks, researchers are edging closer to producing artificial skin—and potentially other tissues—that could transform burn care and reconstructive surgery in the future.
