Patent ID: 8771291

Claim:
An apparatus for directly harvesting a dermal micro-organ from a subject comprising: (a) a support structure to support a skin-related tissue structure of a subject from which a dermal micro-organ is to be harvested, said support structure comprising; (i). a first tubular element comprising a site of insertion into the apparatus; (ii) a vacuum chamber comprising an inner support surface able to hold said skin-related tissue structure in a desired shape and position to enable a cutting tool to cut said dermal micro-organ directly from said skin-related tissue structure, wherein said first tubular element is connected to said vacuum chamber; and (iii) one or more vacuum channels to fluidically connect said vacuum chamber with at least one vacuum source; (b) an introducer; and (c) said cutting tool able to directly separate said dermal micro-organ from said skin-related tissue structure; wherein said dermal micro-organ is an explant of living tissue consisting essentially of a plurality of dermal components located below the epidermis and lacking a complete epidermal layer that substantially maintain the micro-architecture and three-dimensional structure of the dermal tissue from which they are obtained.