Method and apparatus for grafting of skin tissue

#The present disclosure is directed to methods and apparatus for grafting of skin tissue using microscopic tissue grafts from a donor site.

#Skin tissue may be subject to many forms of damage, including burns, trauma, depigmentation (e.g., vitiligo), and the like. Grafts are often used to repair such skin damage. However, grafting techniques generally involve a large amount of tissue being removed from a donor site, preferably from the patient, and/or expensive and complex cultivation procedures using laboratory facilities to form larger portions of graft tissue from smaller donor samples.

#For example, many people exhibit a condition known as vitiligo which results in depigmented regions of skin that may be aesthetically undesirable. Such depigmentation can cause a psycho-social stigma, especially in darker skinned individuals. Vitiligo affects about 1-4% of the population, including an estimated 1 to 2 million Americans. It affects both males and females of all races and ages.

#Further objects, features and advantages provided by the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures showing illustrative embodiments, in which:

#FIG. 1 is an image of a plurality of exemplary suction blisters being formed at a donor site to produce graft tissue;

#FIG. 2 is an image of a piece of graft tissue formed by removing a suction blister at a donor site;

#Throughout the drawings, the same reference numerals and characters, unless otherwise stated, are used to denote like features, elements, components, or samples of the illustrated embodiments. Moreover, while the present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the figures, it is done so in connection with the illustrative embodiments and is not limited by the particular embodiments illustrated in the figures.

#The present disclosure relates to exemplary methods and apparatus for repairing skin using autograft tissue, and particularly such exemplary methods and apparatus that may not require large areas of donor tissue and that are relatively easy and inexpensive to perform and use in a clinical setting. Such exemplary methods and apparatus can be used to repair skin damaged by bums, including both thermal and chemical burns, blistering, dermatological conditions such as epidermolysis bullosa or pyoderma gangrenosum, radiation therapy ulcers, diabetic ulcers, ischemic ulcers or trophic ulcers, trauma, or depigmentation (e.g., vitiligo).

#In one aspect, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure can provide a method for repairing or repigmenting skin tissue using autografts, where tissue harvested from donor sites can be used to repair or repigment areas of tissue that are larger than the donor sites. A plurality of raised blisters can be formed at a donor site, as shown in FIG. 1. These blisters can be formed as suction epidermal blisters. A conventional suction blister device can be used, which can include a hand vacuum pump, pressure control and/or temperature control. For example, suction blisters can be formed after a slight heating of the tissue, e.g., to a temperature of about 40-41° C. The diameters or lateral dimensions of the blisters can be between about 6 mm and about 12 mm, although larger or smaller blister sizes may be used.