A POSTAL worker from the region has become one of the first patients in the UK to be treated with a new form of artificial skin.

A team led by Professor David Leaper, at the University Hospital of North Tees, has flown in special tissue from the US to repair difficult-to-treat ulcers.

The tissue used in such treatment is virtually identical to normal skin, but is derived from human and animal sources.

While it is increasingly being used in the US, it is largely unknown in western Europe.

Prof Leaper believes that the product, known as Apligraf, could one day save the NHS millions of pounds.

At any time, about one per cent of the UK population has an ulcer which will not heal. The older the patient, the more likely it is that they will have an ulcer which requires regular dressing.

The so-called living skin equivalent, produced by the pharmaceutical company Novartis, is partly derived from the discarded foreskins of baby Americans.

"Several companies are making living skin equivalents, skin derived from a human source. In this case baby foreskins are used," said Prof Leaper.

Scientists can extract fibroblasts - the cells which generate the underlying building-blocks of skin - from this surplus tissue and grow them in the laboratory.

The resulting material is identical to normal skin, apart from not having sweat glands or hairs.

A vital factor is that the tissue is "antigenic", so anyone can receive it without their body rejecting it.

The postal worker, who has a large leg ulcer, received the new tissue six weeks ago and has responded well.