Lucknow, Sep 25 (IANS): The skin bank project at King George’s Medical University (KGMU) in Lucknow will become functional within the next two months.

Prof Vijay Kumar, HoD, plastic surgery at the KGMU, where the skin bank is coming up, said, “The infrastructure is almost ready and we are working on a few more things such as a van to transport donated skin to the bank.”

A skin bank is a place where skin from donors, mostly people who wish to donate organs after death, is harvested and preserved.

The skin bank is a valuable resource in providing allograft skin as a cover for partial or full thickness burn injuries. This will be the state’s first skin bank.

The process to get licence from the State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (SOTTO) is also being worked upon. Prof Kumar said a skin bank would be beneficial for all patients of severe burn injury.

The skin bank can store donated skin for up to three months. A date for opening of the skin bank is yet to be announced.