Researchers at Melbourne’s Swinburne University are developing a methodology to grow skin tissue in order to advance smart bandage technology.

A Swinburne bioengineering team has begun to make lifelike skin tissue to further studies on innovations such as cutting-edge smart bandages. The concept is that a technical bandage could attract and trap bacteria in a polymer mesh, trigger drug delivery in response to infection, or color-map a wound.

Humans have always been the best study subjects for these projects, but a vastly easier option would be to utilize skin grown in a lab. However, functional lab-growth is not easy to produce.

Professor Sally McArthur, who heads the research team, observed that:  “Real tissue grows in three dimensions and has many different cell types. We are creating cell culture systems that replicate these more complex structures, and the corresponding tissue functions.”

McArthur’s team has developed holders that allow them to control the fluid flows that feed the cells to keep them alive. Sensors and viewing ports that allow scientists to observe the tissues’ growth are next.

With the addition of the latter, these tissue become so-called ‘4D’ cell culture systems, which are at the forefront of bioengineering.

My interest here is to explore whether this technology approach can interface with a proprietary cellular regeneration element in order to achieve rapid wound healing under careful monitoring.