Burn wound healing and skin substitutes

Burn wound healing is a complex process in the biological objectives and mechanisms defined by the initial injury. In this paper the use of keratinocytes as a skin substitute is used to illustrate some of the problems associated with the development and use of skin substitutes. Skin substitute development must always be viewed against the biological and clinical background in order to provide maximum assistance to the challenging task of treating burn wounds. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.