NASA intends to print bandages from the skin cells of astronauts on the ISS
Miscellaneous / / January 18, 2022
Yes, as in those films where wounds are quickly healed with a special gun.
Special Device Bioprint FirstAid will allow astronauts to provide first aid for burns, cuts and other injuries. It works on bio-ink, which is mixed with skin cells.
By design, the device resembles a glue gun. He does not need batteries - the parts of Bioprint FirstAid interact purely mechanically.
The composition is squeezed out of the bioprinter directly onto the skin and hardens almost instantly. The film, resembling a patch, allows you to hermetically close the wound, and your own skin cells prevent rejection.
The procedure takes about 10 minutes. According to the developers, using the new technology, wounds heal several times faster than when using conventional first aid.
Bioprint FirstAid printer delivered to ISS at the end of 2021. NASA plans to first experiment with the bioink without the addition of skin cells to evaluate its durability. Layers of the composition are applied to the arm, leg or other surface covered with foil.
In the future, skin cells are also involved. Perhaps this will make it safer not only to be on the ISS, but also to explore other planets, according to the space agency.
Of course, there is a first aid kit on the ISS, which is regularly replenished. But due to interruptions in supplies, for example, due to the cancellation of a rocket launch, the necessary funds may not be on board. In addition, in zero gravity, bleeding increases, and because of this, even a small cut can be a serious danger.
On Earth, bioprinting is used in experimental projects to restore skin after burns. But this most often requires sufficiently voluminous bioprinters. They print tissue that includes the patient's cells, let it mature, and then implant it. Under the conditions of the ISS, this is hardly possible.
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For 10 years in IT, I tried a lot: I worked as a system administrator and tester, I wrote in a dozen different languages programming, led the computer department of the editorial office of a printed newspaper and led news feeds high-tech portals. I can patch KDE2 for FreeBSD - and tell you in detail about all the nuances of this process. I dream about homemade R2-D2 and space flight.