Reverse dermatome; in-situ bioprinting of engineered skin substitutes

We present a handheld instrument for the on-site preparation of Engineered Skin Substitutes (ESS). The device has a microfluidic cartridge that arranges the skin's dermal and epidermal cells in a layered structure. With on-site ionic crosslinking of the biomaterials, the organized cell laden fluids polymerize and thus maintain their organization as they are being deposited on to the wound site. We report consistent formation of layered cell laden constructs made from natural ECM with three dimensional organization and physical properties similar to the skin.