Started in 1989, Integra LifeSciences licensed the artificial skin technology in the early 1990s. The approval took longer than usual because the company wanted to be able to claim the artificial skin caused tissue regeneration. Since the product's approval, it has taken another five years for burn surgeons to get used to the product and refine their techniques, which is why the dramatic improvements in survival rates are just starting to show up, Harborview doctors said. Its manufacturer hopes to make a profit by broadening its use beyond burn treatment. Baby steps Integra, of course, is not the whole story.
Researchers continue to make advances in wound healing and infection control.
Newer skin substitutes, including those made from cultured cells of infant foreskins, are already or soon to be on the market. And plastic surgeons continue to finesse the process of reconstructing people's faces. None of it happens fast. Medicine doesn't evolve by big giant steps. It's tiny baby steps.