New, innovative treatments for burns in the works

Living cells being chilled before they can be cultivated to make artificial skin to treat burns in Urgo’s laboratory. — AFP

Far from the humble sticking plaster, medical firms and researchers are seeking to create the “ultimate dressing”: artificial skin they hope will revolutionise the treatment of severe burns.

For the last 18 months, researchers from the French firm Urgo have been working towards achieving this holy grail of wound treatment, which would save serious burn victims from the painful and repeated skin grafts they currently endure.