Artificial skin is a product which can be used for temporary or permanent replacement of damaged skin. Classically, doctors use synthetic skin on burn victims. There are a number of different types of artificial skin, ranging from sheets of human skin grown from the patient’s own cells to entirely synthetic products which are designed to act as a support so that the body can grow its own skin as it heals.

These products may be designed to be removed, or they may have layers. For example, some products include a collagen matrix layer which is designed to stimulate the body so that it will grow a new dermis, with a temporary upper layer that acts as a protective cover until the dermis is established. Once the dermis has grown back, the upper layer can be removed, and a thin graft of epidermis can be applied.

Whichever type of the artificial skin is, it should be of adequate air permeability to guarantee the regeneration of dermis. The wounded skin may ulcerate when the artificial skin is of poor air permeability. Therefore it is quite important to control the air permeability in production of artificial skin.

This article provides detailed testing procedures for your reference.

Figure 1 Artificial Skin

Currently there are two main methods for oxygen permeability test i.e. equal pressure method and differential pressure method. The former one will be elaborated in this article.

With equal pressure method, the specimen is mounted as a sealed semi-barrier between two chambers at ambient atmospheric pressure. One chamber is slowly purged by a stream of nitrogen and the other chamber contains oxygen. As oxygen gas permeates through the film into the nitrogen carrier gas, it is transported to the coulometric detector where it produces an electrical current, the magnitude of which is proportional to the amount of oxygen flowing into the detector per unit time.

Labthink OX2/230 Oxygen Transmission Rate Test System adopts equal pressure method, which is used to test the artificial skin specimen.

The tests can be performed according to the following procedures.

(1)   Cut round specimen whose diameter is 1.5cm from the artificial skin sample.

(2)   Apply a thin layer of vacuum grease on the edge of lower test chamber. Place the specimen on the lower test chamber. Install the upper test chamber and clamp the specimen between the upper and lower test chamber.

(3)   Set test parameters and then start test.

(4)   Adjust the flow control valve and make the humidity in upper and lower test chambers reach the preset value. The test results will be given after the test is finished.

The manufacturer or user of the artificial skin can determine whether the test specimens have adequate oxygen permeability for clinical treatment.

For more details about OX2/230 Oxygen Transmission Rate Test System, please visit www.labthink.com

About Labthink Instruments Co., Ltd:

Labthink Instruments Co., Ltd is one leading supplier of packaging testing instruments, which is headquartered in Jinan, China and operated in Boston, U.S.A.