In an effort to help burn injury patients I worked with scientists at USAISR to develop a novel treatment method.

Human plasma is very rich in growth factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Grafts made from coagulated platelet free plasma (PFP) have almost no immunogenic factors and they can be used as a nutrient medium to help with the regeneration of skin after burn injuries.

The problem with PFP grafts is that they degrade and have a very short longevity. It has been shown that crosslinking the fibrin network can help with the longevity of skin grafts. A comparison between Pegylated-Platelet free plasma (PEG-PFP) and PFP grafts, 14 days after creation and incubation is shown in the above image.

In order to improve the longevity of the grafts even further, I solubilized chitosan in weak acetid acid using membrane dialysis techniques. I then added PEG-PFP to the lyophilized chitosan foam. The resulting grafts maintained it's structure much better and could still support the cells for the wound healing process.

This video shows Human Abdominoplasty (HAP) stem cells in PFP grafts 4 days after culture.