How the Skin Gun Will Transform Treatment for Burn Victims
We have all experienced the sharp, sudden pain of grazing a finger against a blazing hot sautee pan or casserole dish, but the searing pain of a second degree burn is exponentially worse than that. Despite the suffering caused by severe burns, patients have always had to rely upon one imperfect treatment that left scars and trauma in its wake. Now, RenovaCare is announcing its development of a flagship CellMist™ treatment system that sprays a patient’s very own stem cells over burn wounds with a brand new SkinGun™ device. Nearly ten years in the making, this groundbreaking technology is still under clinical evaluation, but is expected to be available to patients in the years to come.
Second-Degree Burns With Current Medicine
Second-degree burns are defined as partial thickness burns that affect the epidermis and a portion of the dermis. Such burns cause redness, blistering, swelling, and excruciating pain. Most are caused by fire-based injuries, but some occur after accidental exposure to chemicals or electricity. Right now, superficial second-degree burns take about three weeks to heal with modern treatments, while deeper second-degree burns can take months. Even after burns do heal, they often leave scars in their place.
Particularly severe second-degree burns require skin grafting to heal. A skin graft is a thin layer of skin taken from one part of the patient’s body in order to cover the burned area. It’s a technique most often seen on the face and hands, when the new skin is stapled or stitched onto the burn area. Skin grafts can also be used over larger areas in mesh grafts using donor skin that has been cut with a special tool. While these strategies are undoubtedly better than the raw skin they replace, the downsides include risk of infection, pain, and slow recovery time.
The CellMist™ Difference
CellMist™ is a revolutionary system that uses a patient’s very own stem cells to create a liquid suspension that can be gently sprayed onto the affected skin with the SkinGun™. This light spray equally distributes stem cells along the burn to stimulate rapid healing. Preliminary studies show that this system can accelerate the skin healing process so that it takes only days instead of weeks, and there are absolutely no skin grafts or other risky processes involved. In fact, the treatment is so gentle that the patient receiving CellMist™ just feels like he is being sprayed with salt water.
Even better, since the skin cells used are from the patient himself, the regenerated skin looks very natural and grows into fully functional layers that include the dermis, epidermis, and blood vessels. Scarring is rare.
While the SkinGun so far has focused only on the treatment of second-degree burns, since first-degree burns are minor and third-degree burns are too severe to respond to the current technology, there is rather strong evidence that it might also successfully treat other skin wounds and disorders.
Given that the burn wound and treatment market is a $45 billion market, countless people are waiting eagerly for RenovaCare’s groundbreaking technology that will minimize patient suffering and dramatically improve the healing process.
Reference and image credit: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2011/02/03/incredible-skin-gun-heals-severe-burns-in-days/
