Skin replacements

There is much progress to be made to optimize the development of laboratory-grown temporary and permanent skin replacements. Replacement of both epidermal and dermal layers is important for achieving optimal take of cultured grafts and for optimizing the quality of wound healing. Although the use of retained cadaver allodermis on the wound bed may improve the performance of cultured epithelium, the development of successful, complete dermal-epidermal skin replacements (composite grafts) would greatly simplify burn management. In the future, handling and stability of the cultured grafts should be improved, and clinical outcomes should be expected to be superior. Unfortunately, funding for this type of applied research has not achieved high priority from the federal government granting agencies, despite the great clinical need for improved technology. Future progress depends largely upon commercial support.