SEM of meshed skin graft over a burn.
Packed Lunch is back!
Our regular series of lunchtime talks returned last week with a fascinating encounter with Dr Isabel Jones, a surgeon in the Burns Unit at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.
She described the multidisciplinary effort involved in treating burn victims. As Louise Crane writes in her report on the Wellcome Collection blog:
There are microbiologists focused on the threat of infection; physiotherapists who get the patients back on their feet; psychotherapists to help them through the psychological consequences of their injuries.
And though a fair way from clinical use, there are exciting developments in the science of artificial skin:
Artificial skins and skin substitutes are being developed, but the technology has not been perfected. The problem is creating something that is non-antigenic and can work universally for all skin types. Biotechnology is used, however, in the form of dermal replacements that enable a thinner graft to be used on the wound. This means less skin needs to be taken from the healthy site, and there is less scarring.
Read the full account and listen to/download the podcast over on the Wellcome Collection blog.
Packed Lunch is a regular series of science talks featuring local(ish) researchers talking about their research, motivations, inspirations and what it’s like to be a scientist.
Visit the Wellcome Collection website for more info. You can also listen to past talks in the archive.
Image credit: David Gregory&Debbie Marshall, Wellcome Images
Filed under: Audio, Event, Wellcome Collection Tagged: Burns, Dr Isabel Jones, Packed Lunch, Skin, Surgery, Wellcome Collection
