Anyone can tell you that getting burned is no fun at all, and even more if you suffer second and third degree burns – what more, on the face. Well, the military might have a solution in the far off future, targeting a 2017 release date that requires those who have a burned face to wear a mask for several months. Now, this mask not only increases the social acceptance of a burn victim in public, it also comes with sensors, actuators and a regenerative elixir inside, where the included stem cells will get to work in order to help your face regrow missing facial tissue. Makes sense, as around 85% of recent wartime injuries have caused damage to the extremities or face.
Currently, the Pentagon has made some startlingly fast progress where the clever application of regenerative medicine has seen action to effectively heal such wounds, building fresh muscle tissue out of pig cells, while repairing damaged flesh with spray-on skin. Heck, even broken bones can be fixed with an injectable compound. The biomask might just be the next big thing, being the “baby” of an alliance forged by engineers at UT Arlington, regenerative medicine specialists at Northwestern University, and experts from the Brooke Army Medical Center and the Army Institute of Surgical Research.
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