Patent 8097274 was granted and assigned to National Defense Medical Center on January, 2012 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Provided herein are skin substitutes suitable for use in a living subject for purpose of repairing damaged tissues, methods of producing the skin substitutes and their uses. A biocomposite membrane comprising poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and at least one material selected from collagen and gelatin is provided. In one embodiment, the biocomposite is a 2-component membrane of PCL and gelatin. In another embodiment, the biocomposite is a 3-component membrane of PCL, collagen and gelatin. The bio-composite membrane may be used directly in vivo as a wound dressing, or as a support for cell growth on each side of the membrane to produce an in vitro cultivated artificial skin for future in vivo and/or in vitro applications.