Our protocol starts by using a 3D laser scanner to generate a computer-aided design (CAD) model of a body part, e.g., human hand ( Fig.

RESULTS Establishing the method to engineer wearable edgeless human skin Our technology provides full-thickness human skin constructs with enhanced extracellular and mechanical properties, geometry-dependent cellular/extracellular responses, integrated perfusion capabilities, and personalized wearable shapes for precision skin replacement therapy. To this end, we leveraged the capabilities of the Carbon Digital Light Synthesis technology (DLS) to tackle the challenge of making fully enclosed 3D skin in various shapes with a cornified epidermis achieved through an air-liquid interface (ALI) culture under continuous medium perfusion. We hypothesized that 3D skin constructs built as a continuous tissue would recreate the biophysical interactions and cellular/extracellular organization found in the human skin in a body site–specific fashion, leading to superior mechanical and functional properties compared to conventional hydrogel-based skin constructs. In this study, we challenge the prevailing paradigm in skin bioengineering by reimagining 3D skin constructs as fully enclosed continuous 3D tissues that can be seamlessly transplanted as a biological clothing (e.g., skin gloves) on any part of the body. This study provides a compelling technology that may substantially improve wound care and suggests that the recapitulation of the tissue macroanatomy can lead to enhanced biological function. WESCs replace the skin in full-thickness wounds of challenging body sites (e.g., mouse hindlimbs) with minimal suturing and shorter surgery time. WESCs display region-specific cell/ECM alignment, as well as physiologic anisotropic mechanical properties.

Our wearable edgeless skin constructs (WESCs) show enhanced dermal extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition and mechanical properties compared to conventional constructs. Here, we challenge the prevailing paradigm by engineering the skin as a fully enclosed 3D tissue that can be shaped after a body part and seamlessly transplanted as a biological clothing. Therefore, they do not effectively cover anatomically complex body sites, e.g., hands. Despite the advancements in skin bioengineering, 3D skin constructs are still produced as flat tissues with open edges, disregarding the fully enclosed geometry of human skin.

The Culture Chamber by Jeffrey D. Stalk