Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 1996

mice, and suggested that a similar approach is feasible in a clinical setting. The second conclusion is that wh en using collagen, fibrin, and cultured skin together, it is best to do it in stages. This means that after the w o u nd has been covered w i th collagen, there should be a wait of several days during which vascularization can take place, before fibrin and cultured skin are added on. These findings coincide w i th the latest developments in the production of artificial skin in the United States. The US-made artificial skin consists of an outer silicon layer, which acts as a barrier against bacterial invasion, and a collagen dermis. The grafting procedure is to cover the w o u n d w i th artificial skin first for a m i n i mum of 14 to 17 days. Then the silicon layer is removed and a thin layer of the patient's own skin is grafted in its place. In early 1996, for the first time in Asia, Prof. King successfully applied this type of artificial skin to treat t wo adult patients w i th major bums at the Prince of Wales Hospital. Later when treating Pat Sin Range bu rn victims, he acted on the insight gained f r om the experiment and did the grafting in stages ： covering the wo u nd first with artificial skin and then waiting two weeks or more before transplanting the patient's own skin. The researchers have gained a much better understanding of the characteristics of collagen and the dermis through their relentless research efforts. T h ey w i l l continue their wo rk in this area w i th the a im of d e v e l o p i ng a t y pe of artificial skin ideal for treating patients w i th serious burns. • Prof. Walter W.K. King (left) and Mr. P.K. Lam holding a piece of artificial skin Prof. King graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, with honours in biochemistry in 1971. He subsequently studied medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee and received his doctor of medicine (MD) degree in 1975. In the following years, he worked in numerous prestigious medical institutions in the United States including Massachusetts General Hospital Harvard Medical School, Shriners Burns Institute at Boston, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center at New York. Prof. King joined The Chinese University of Hong Kong as lecturer in surgery in 1984 and was promoted to senior lecturer, reader and professor in 1988 ， 1993 and 1995 respectively. Prof. King's wide clinical interests include head and neck surgery, plastic and reconstructive surgery, burns surgery and endocrine surgery. Prof. Arthur K.C. Li received his medical education at Queen's College, Cambridge University, and Middlesex Hospital Medical School, University of London. He continued his postgraduate training in England after graduation. In 1977, he won a scholarship to further his specialist training in hepatobiliary and upper gastrointestinal surgery at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Prof. Li was appointed consultant at the Royal Free Hospital in London in 1980. The following year he obtained his doctor of medicine (MD) degree from Cambridge. Prof. Li joined The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1982 as the founding chair of surgery. He was twice elected dean of the Medical Faculty in 1992 and 1995. In August 1996, Prof. Li assumed vice-chancellorship of The Chinese University. Improved Skin Grafting Techniques Bring Hope to Burn Patients 27