Re-freeze dried bilayer artificial skin.

A bilayer artificial skin composed of a silicone sheet and a collagen sponge sheet was developed by us in 1986, modifying Yannas and Burke's technique. It was used in experimental animals and clinically, both with success; but the artificial skin was inconvenient for clinical use in terms of disinfection and preservation. In an attempt to reduce the drawbacks, we developed a re-freeze dried artificial skin. Experiments were conducted to examine whether the re-freeze dried material is equivalent to the prototype one. A significant difference between the two was found in tensile tests but not in experimental and clinical effects.