Medical Design and Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Supplies and Components Index
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • MedTech Resources
    • Medtech Events in 2025
    • The 2024 Medtech Big 100
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Subscribe to Print Magazine
    • DeviceTalks
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Educational Assets
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Voices
    • Views
    • Video
  • 2025 Leadership
    • 2024 Winners
    • 2023 Winners
    • 2022 Winners
    • 2021 Winners
  • Women in Medtech
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe

How facial skin wounds could be healed with 3D-bioprinted masks

February 13, 2019 By Danielle Kirsh

BioMask

[Image from WFIRM]

Scientists at Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) have created a 3D-bioprinted BioMask that could treat facial wounds or burns with tissue regenerated from the mask.

The BioMask was developed using a customized, bioengineered skin substitute in combination with a wound dressing layer that can snugly fit onto a facial wound to regenerate skin, according to the researchers.

“For patients who suffer from disfiguring facial wounds, the BioMask could one day be used as an effective treatment that would greatly improve their quality of life,” Sang Jin Lee, associate professor of regenerative medicine at WFIRM and lead author on the study, said in a press release.

BioMask is flexible and easy to handle. It was created using 3D bioprinting that was customized with a face CT image. Wound dressing material and cell-laden hydrogels were made by the printer and placed layer-by-layer on the mask to create skin constructs. As a result, the BioMask has three layers, including a porous polyurethane support layer, a bioengineered epidermis and a dermis layer.

Skin injuries or burns to the face can be difficult to treat, according to the WFIRM scientists. The different contours and complex movements of the muscles in the face make it difficult to treat wounds and burns using skin grafts and skin substitutes, both of which can lead to scarring, infection or graft failure.

Researchers wanted to simulate skin regeneration on the face, so they placed the BioMask on a facial skin wound bed that was created on a pre-made face-shaped structure implanted under the skin of a mouse. After seven days of having the mask, the polyurethane layer was removed and tissue was regenerated.

“The BioMask could have great clinical impact for patients by providing effective and rapid restoration of facial skin following serious burn or injury,” Dr. Anthony Atala, co-author on the paper and director of WFIRM, said. “The bioprinting technology, combined with the face CT image, utilized for this concept allows for the fabrication of a personalized shape of a patient’s face so that we can take better care of the wound.”

The research was published in the journal Bioprinting and was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health.

About The Author

Danielle Kirsh

Danielle Kirsh is an award-winning journalist and senior editor for Medical Design & Outsourcing, MassDevice, and Medical Tubing + Extrusion, and the founder of Women in Medtech and lead editor for Big 100. She received her bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism and mass communication from Norfolk State University and is pursuing her master's in global strategic communications at the University of Florida. You can connect with her on Twitter and LinkedIn, or email her at dkirsh@wtwhmedia.com.

Related Articles Read More >

A photo of the miniature Auxilium Biotechnologies implants made on the International Space Station.
Implants 3D-printed in space could enable nerve regeneration
Researchers develop faster, cheaper microfluidic device fabrication method
A photo of 3D-printed glacoma stents with a penny for scale.
Three predictions for high precision 3D printing and healthcare innovation
Axial3D GE HealthCare MR Imaging collaboration
GE HealthCare partners with Axial3D for patient-specific 3D MRI models
“mdo
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest medical device business news, application and technology trends.

DeviceTalks Weekly

See More >

MDO Digital Edition

Digital Edition

Subscribe to Medical Design & Outsourcing. Bookmark, share and interact with the leading medical design engineering magazine today.

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
DeviceTalks

DeviceTalks is a conversation among medical technology leaders. It's events, podcasts, webinars and one-on-one exchanges of ideas & insights.

DeviceTalks

New MedTech Resource

Medical Tubing

MassDevice

Mass Device

The Medical Device Business Journal. MassDevice is the leading medical device news business journal telling the stories of the devices that save lives.

Visit Website
MDO ad
Medical Design and Outsourcing
  • MassDevice
  • DeviceTalks
  • MedTech100 Index
  • Medical Tubing + Extrusion
  • Medical Design Sourcing
  • Drug Delivery Business News
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing World
  • R&D World
  • About Us/Contact
  • Advertise With Us
  • Subscribe to Print Magazine
  • Subscribe to our E-Newsletter
  • Listen to our Weekly Podcasts
  • Join our DeviceTalks Tuesdays Discussion

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media LLC. Site Map | Privacy Policy | RSS

Search Medical Design & Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Supplies and Components Index
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • MedTech Resources
    • Medtech Events in 2025
    • The 2024 Medtech Big 100
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Subscribe to Print Magazine
    • DeviceTalks
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Educational Assets
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Voices
    • Views
    • Video
  • 2025 Leadership
    • 2024 Winners
    • 2023 Winners
    • 2022 Winners
    • 2021 Winners
  • Women in Medtech
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe