The bionic bandage

Thousands of patients with severe burns and long-term wounds could soon be helped by "living bandages" made from their own skin cells, doctors said today.

The Myskin bandages, which have taken 10 years to develop, are made by taking a sample of a patient's skin, growing the cells in the lab and then placing them onto specially-made discs.

Doctors say they have been impressed by trials and that the bandages seem to reduce pain.

The bandages have been developedby Sheffield company Cell-Tran with financial support from the Wellcome Trust and the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund.

They will be officially launched at the British Burn Association's annual meeting in Manchester tomorrow and will be available across the UK later in the year.

Burns and plastic surgeon David Ralston, from the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield, said tests had produced "excellent results".