Doctors have found that Avita Medical Ltd.’s ReCell, a device that allows physicians to quickly regenerate skin by using a small sample of the patient’s skin, has been effective in treating burn victims from the Taiwan waterpark disaster. On June 27, during a music festival outside of Taipei, an explosion ignited after a flammable colored powder was sprayed over the crowd. The blast left 12 dead and 498 people with severe burn injuries. Officials have reported that 107 victims remain hospitalized with 12 of those victims still in intensive care. Avita, a Northridge medical technology company, sent a team equipped with 50 ReCell units to support Taiwan doctors in treating the burn victims from the explosion. These donated devices along with a number of purchased units were distributed to 12 hospitals, where approximately 76 patients have been treated with the ReCell technology. Physicians have reported positive results when treating wounds and burn sites with the regenerated skin. Dr. Wen-Pin Kao, chief plastic surgeon at Changhua Christian Hospital, said that by using ReCell with other treatments, the survival rate of skin islands, skin removed from one area of the body to reconstruct another, increased by up to 90 percent. “The final result is better than we expected,” said Kao in a statement. “ReCell is showing that it can enhance the survival rate of skin grafts. By using this, we are seeing that there is no need for another skin graft treatment.”
