Spray-on skin processing unit
Object No. 2013/106/1
ReCell enables a surgeon to apply skin cells, collected from a healthy sample of the patient's own skin, to an area that needs new cells to ensure appropriate healing, skin texture and pigmentation. The kit produces a suspension that contains all of the cells necessary to promote healthy skin growth. The spray has cells to promote healing (keratinocytes) and colour (melanocytes). 'Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication' said Leonardo Da Vinci. Of course it is difficult to align that statement with treating injury to the human body: sophisticated, yes - highly; simple - it would not seem so. The art, though, is in creating simplicity out of extreme sophistication. The spray-on skin kit is an expression of this. The ReCell kit, which looks no more threatening than a blood tissue harvesting kit, is able to process a healthy skin sample from a patient - the size of a postage stamp - and post-processing in the solutions, be then applied via an aerosol applicator onto injured skin where the cells will attach, multiply and grow into healthy skin. In the early 1990s, Professor Fiona Wood and colleague Ms Marie Stoner developed a spray-on autologous skin culture technique which was an Australian innovation. They began in 1993 processing cell cultures into sheets, but rapidly progressed to harvesting the cells earlier and then delivering them in a suspension to the wound surface. By 1995, the cells were delivered using a spray nozzle as an aerosol. The next step was to develop a kit such that the essential steps taken in the lab could be taken to the bedside, with the wound being the cell culture environment. Professor Wood was named both West Australian and Australian of the Year in 2005. In that year, both Professor Wood and Ms Stoner were awarded with the Clunies Ross Award for their contributions to Medical Science in Australia. The Australian company Avita Medical began research and development into making a product which could significantly utilise Professor Wood's technique. The clinical trials were partially funded by the US Military, who understandably were interested in expediting the process of the development of a kit. The result is the ReCell kit which is used for a wide variety of wound, plastic, reconstructive, burn and cosmetic procedures. Damian McDonald Curator October 2013
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Summary
Object Statement
Spray-on skin processing unit, ReCell Spray-On Skin Kit, plastic / electronic components, Avita Medical Ltd, Western Australia, 2013
Physical Description
The kit is made from moulded plastic, and features a blue outer casing with a blue tinted, clear lid with 'reCELL' embossed on the top. When lifted the lid reveals the electronic component at the top consisting of two small cups, labelled 'B' and 'C', two blue push buttons, one with a triangle, the other with a '?' symbol, and three lights, in red, orange and green, which are active during the machines function. To the left of this is a third cup, with a black interior, marked 'A + E' for the harvested skin. Below this component is a deep pool area, with a removable white tray above. The base of the device has a small silver sticker with details about the manufacturer and model of the kit. Housed within the tray of the kit is a clear plastic syringe, with a removable spray lid. A scale on the side reads, '1:6 cc/mL', and 'SINGLE USE ONLY'.
DIMENSIONS
Height
55 mm
Width
223 mm
Depth
155 mm
Weight
400 g
PRODUCTION
Notes
The ReCell Spray-On Skin Kit is designed and manufactured by Avita Medical Ltd, at South Perth, Western Australia, Australia, in 2013. The concept of the kit is developed from the research and practice performed by Professor Fiona Wood and her team in treating burn injuries, starting the the early 1990s, and advancing to the spray-on technique in the early 2000s.
HISTORY
Notes
After the well-documented success of Professor Fiona Wood's treatment of burn injured skin, particularly after the Bali bombings in which fundamentalist militants detonated explosives in nightclubs in Bali, Indonesia in 2002, the technique of harvesting healthy tissue, processing it in a suspension and spraying it directly onto injured skin was of course going to be explored further to enable the treatment to be more widely available. Professor Wood says: 'we first started to culture skin cells in Perth in 1993 so the research and development began in earnest then. The first cell suspension was done in 1994 - the cells sprayed at that stage were cultured first. The ReCell concept with cells harvested in theatre began in 1997 leading to the first ReCell kit in its current form launching 2003/4.'
SOURCE
Credit Line
Gift of Avita Medical Ltd, 2013
Acquisition Date
21 October 2013
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