At the Conception Hospital in Marseille, a 3D bio-printer allows skin to be printed, which could then be used for transplants. Before the tests carried out in world premiere in Marseille in a few months, professionals present this technological gem at the microphone of Europe 1.

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At the Conception Hospital, in the heart of Marseille, a revolution is brewing. Skin grafting is a headache for doctors, and an invention may well facilitate this process. A Girondin start-up has designed a machine to make skin, a sort of 3D bio-printer. World premiere tests are to be performed in a few months at the Marseille hospital.

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"One of the most powerful technologies there is"

The printer is the size of a small cabinet, with a multitude of screens to view the cells. Taken from a patient from a tiny piece of skin, the cells are prepared and cultured in the laboratory before being placed in the machine. A month later, a 40 cm sample of skin comes out.

# 3Dprinting # 3D # Poietis prepares for #Marseille the first clinical trial of bio-printed skin implantable in humans - https://t.co/Bl0yDbhlZ0

- TwiT (@Twiit_iT) February 8, 2020

"We load the printer with these cells which puts them in a kind of ink made mainly of collagen, then it assembles them layer by layer very precisely to make a skin that looks as much as possible to normal skin", specifies Florence Sabatier, head of the cell therapy unit at the APHM. "This is an important step in the field of tissue regeneration. It is one of the most powerful technologies there is," continues the scientist.

#INNOVATION Great first in #Marseille, we are going to print in # 3D ... human skin! https://t.co/US3HTtR3hT v / @ laprovence # Health # eHealth # Hcsmeufr # Tech # MedTechpic.twitter.com / omYlLg25Fp

- Ioda Consulting (@Iodaconsulting) February 16, 2020

In a few months, patients will be able to benefit from this technology for the first time, especially those with severe burns. Doctor Casanova takes care of these patients whose skin was burned: "Ten years ago we never even imagined that! This technique is the one that will certainly give us the closest skin in terms of constitution, "architecture and cellular layout of human skin. This is our hope, it is a revolution", enthuses the doctor.

After the skin, the bio-printer could well make other organs, such as vessels or cartilage. In any case, this is the hope of doctors.