Wound care is making a massive technological leap thanks to collaboration at the University of Pretoria where 3D printing could change everything!
South Africa (23 April 2025) – Wounds that need to heal “on their own” such as deep burns or ulcers that can’t be stitched closed are a burden and drain on healthcare budgets and, more tragically, they seriously affect the patients’ quality of life. The wound care for these issues is a skin graft but there is limited donor skin, tricky patient conditions and the constant worry of immune rejection.
So, what if we could simply print new skin?
That’s the ambitious question a multidisciplinary team at the University of Pretoria is answering. Partnering across the Departments of Anatomy and Pharmacology, the researchers fused biomedical know‑how with engineering flair to design next‑generation “acellular dermal scaffolds” — or ADS for short.
The idea is simple: Imagine a sheet of donor skin gently stripped of every cell that might trigger rejection. What’s left is a protein‑rich framework ready to welcome a patient’s own cells and knit itself into living, breathing tissue.
Enter 3D bioprinting. Using micro‑X‑ray CT scans and the powerhouse Amira‑Avizo imaging software, the UP squad created a digital playbook for printing tailor‑made dermal scaffolds. The result: sturdy, custom‑fit “skin blanks” that match a wound’s exact size and depth, slashing healing times and cutting costs in one elegant sweep.
“Decellularised acellular dermal scaffolds (ADS) are an alternative to skin grafts and are developed by removing cells from the skin of a donor or an animal; this reduces the potential for rejection,” explains Dr Alison Ridel of the Department of Anatomy.
“Traditional decellularisation processes have various limitations, and may produce ADS with altered three-dimensional (3D) structure, damaged proteins and decreased tensile strength.”
“Our research aimed to provide a digital protocol to generate a 3D acellular dermal scaffold for 3D bioprinting,”
Why this matters:
- Personalised healing – Each scaffold can be tweaked to fit a patient’s unique wound, boosting comfort and speeding recovery.
- Less waste, lower costs – Precise printing means fewer discarded materials and a gentler hit on healthcare budgets.
- Better lives, inside and out – Faster closure of chronic wounds reduces infection risk and lifts the psychological weight patients carry.
“Effective wound healing not only affects physical recovery but also has psychological benefits,” – Ms Hafiza Parkar, Health Sciences Lecturer.
“By accelerating healing, this reduces the risk of non-healing wounds forming; these are susceptible to infection and can take months or years to heal. As a result, patients may experience less anxiety and improved overall well-being, leading to a better quality of life during recovery.”
The big picture? By marrying biology with cutting‑edge tech, 3D printed skin could turn today’s “silent epidemic” into tomorrow’s solvable problem — and give countless patients a fresh layer of hope.
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