How a Plastic Surgeon Developed a Spray-On Skin Burn Treatment That Leaves No Scars
Plastic surgeon Fiona Wood and colleague Marie Stoner developed a spray-on skin treatment for burns that reduces scarring and speeds recovery, initially using a lab under hospital stairs to refine the method. Their technique, tested on pediatric patients since 1995, achieves 80% scarless outcomes and is now being explored for other skin diseases.
Australian plastic surgeon Fiona Wood and her colleague Marie Stoner created a spray-on skin treatment to revolutionize burn care after discovering that fragile cultured skin cells healed wounds better when applied as a suspension. Their work began in 1993 in a makeshift lab under the stairs of Royal Perth Hospital, where they reduced the time to grow skin grafts from three weeks to five days by applying cells individually in a liquid form. This led to the development of a spray method using a trypsin-based enzyme, which they first tested on pediatric patients in 1995, achieving 80% scarless outcomes. The treatment proved particularly effective for larger burns, minimizing scarring compared to traditional skin grafts, which always leave scars. Wood and Stoner observed that patients with severe but smaller burns, who couldn’t wait the five days for the spray, received conventional grafts and suffered significant scarring. Their approach eliminated the need for aggressive tissue removal, as the sprayed cells adhered directly to the wound bed. The spray-on technique accelerates healing by allowing cells to spread across wounds more effectively, reducing complications like infection and muscle wasting. Wood’s team continues to refine the method, exploring its potential for treating other skin diseases beyond burns. The innovation has transformed burn treatment, offering faster recovery and better cosmetic results for patients.
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