Astronaut Experiments Bandage Made Of Human Skin

Bioprint tested in space. (photo: Doc. ESA/DSR)

JAKARTA - Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) are currently testing a bioprint bandage. This bandage is different from what we're used to because it's made from the astronaut's own cells.

The experiment was originally carried out by the German Space Agency (DLR), and hopes to help treat injuries if anything should happen to astronauts during space missions.

The experiment was carried out during SpaceX's 24th commercial supply mission to the ISS, which launches in late 2021, bringing with it a handheld device known as the Bioprint FirstAid Handheld Bioprinter, or Bioprint FirstAid for short.

The device is designed to house cells from astronauts and then put them into a bio-ink. In the event of an injury, the FirstAid Bioprint will be used to quickly bandage the injury site. The bio-print mixes with two quick setting gels and will cover wounds similar to a plaster.

Launching SYFY, Monday, January 17th, the FirstAid Bioprint has the advantage of being small enough to hold and completely manual, requiring no batteries or other external power source to use.

For testing on the ISS, the device will not use live cells inside. Instead, it will carry the fluorescent microparticles that replace the cells for later observations.

The main objective of this experiment was to test the printability of the device in microgravity and compare it with performance in gravity on Earth.

Taking this technology into space allows researchers to understand how tissue layers work together in microgravity, which may be fundamentally different from how they operate on Earth.

This technology is likely to be useful on Earth as well. Doctors and emergency medical personnel can take the device to where the patient is, without having to need it in a hospital setting.

However, what is noteworthy right now is that astronauts in space, they heal wounds differently than they do on Earth. Low gravity is known to increase the time it takes for an injury to heal. Here, scientists hope that this bioprint technology can help in the event of an injury during long-term space missions, when medical equipment is not available.