Skin Gun :Burn victims new hope

[Mr.Fitnah]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXO_ApjKPaI&[/ame]

The name is slightly misleading, but the results aren’t.

It’s being called the “skin gun,” and if it takes off it could revolutionize how burn victims are treated. The invention, which looks and acts more like an airbrush than a gun, uses a patient’s own stem cells (taken from healthy skin), combines them in a solution in the gun, and then sprays them on the burned area. In the small number of patients that have been treated, the results have been nothing short of miraculous: skin that might normally take weeks or months to heal rejuvenates in days. And to the naked eye, signs of the burn are barely visible.

 

[Mr.Fitnah]

Well thanks for reading my post
I hope the suffering I imagine this could relive comes true.

 

[strollingbones]

this is simply amazing...most burn patients die from dehydration from lack of skin...plus this will end a lot of the painful things one must do to burns

 

[California Girl]

We seem to have had some incredible advancements in medical science recently. This one is very cool. And I pray that the Brits who think they have discovered a huge advance in the treatment of many forms of cancer are proved right.

 

[jillian]

it's pretty amazing. gizmodo did an article about this research in 2008, but they didn't think it would become a reality so quickly.

Spray on Skin Gun Shoots Stem Cells To Heal Your Open Wounds

it's based on stem-cell technology.

 

[editec]

WOW!

I once had the occassion to work on a patient who'd been caught in a exploding Jet on an aircraft carrier.

He had burns over 70% of his body.

Anything that can save and speed up the process of getting real skin back on the body is going to save botht eh victim AND THE CAREGIVERS enormous suffering.

Seriously, treating burn victims is horrible.

Everything you do to help them pretty much causes them agony.

So honestly, you're not just helping the victims with this invention, you're also helping the caregivers, too.

 

[strollingbones]

go medical advances!!!!

now about this common cold

 

[waltky]

Trials in humans are still years away...

Burn dressing 'lights up' to signal an infection
24 March 2013 - Scientists have developed a medical dressing that 'lights up' when a burn is infected.

It could be lifesaving in young children with serious burns in whom infections can rapidly become fatal, the Bristol researchers said. A prototype dressing, which glows under UV light when it detects harmful bacteria, is featured on BBC science show Bang Goes the Theory. But trials in humans are still some years away. Fast diagnosis of infection in children with burns, such as those caused by scalds from hot drinks, is a big problem for clinicians, the researchers said. Current tests for an infected wound can take up to a couple of days but children - especially those of pre-school age - are particularly at risk from the effects of infection due to their relatively poor immunity. They can quickly develop a condition called toxic shock syndrome, which if left untreated can be fatal in half of cases.

Fluorescent dye

The dressing developed by scientists at the University of Bath uses nanocapsules containing a dye that burst open in the presence of disease-causing bacteria. Using a UV light, doctors can quickly check whether there is infection by seeing if the dressing glows. The nanocapsules are activated when they come into contact with toxins produced by harmful bacteria, so do not release the dye in response to normal bacteria that live on the skin. So far the dressing has been tested on skin samples in the laboratory.

The dressing, developed by scientists at the University of Bath, uses nanocapsules which contain a fluorescent dye

Dr Toby Jenkins, reader in Biophysical Chemistry at Bath, and project lead said about 5,000 children a year in England and Wales are treated in hospital for burns. "The big problem for clinicians is the fast diagnosis of infection. Current methods take between 24 and 48 hours to get an answer as to whether the wound is infected. "However, our burns dressing gives a simple colour change under UV light if a pathogenic, disease-causing bacteria is present in the burn, meaning clinicians can be alerted quickly to a potential infection."

Dr Amber Young, consultant paediatric anaesthetist at the South West Paediatric Burns Centre at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol and clinical adviser to the project said when a child with a small burn develops a high temperature there is no easy way of knowing if the child has a serious bacterial infection, or simply a cough or cold. "We currently have to remove the dressing to test for infection, which may result in slower healing and potentially life-long scarring and is very distressing for the child. "This new dressing will mean we will be able to detect the early signs of infection so we can diagnose and treat the child quickly."

Prof Sheila MacNeil, from Sheffield University, said the technology was based on two clever concepts - that it only reacts in the presence of life-threatening bacteria and that the florescent dye only shows up once the nanocapsules have burst. "It has been developed for use in paediatrics but it could also be useful in lots of other contexts, such as the management of chronic ulcers in the home," she added.

BBC News - Burn dressing 'lights up' to signal an infection