Production optimization and value chain analysis for decellularized skin

Thesis

Due to rapidly advancing developments in tissue engineering, and the depth of its potential for application in the health sector, its involvement in medical therapy have become the focus of pharmaceutical and clinical studies across both academia and industry. Nevertheless, there remains a significant gap between the commercial availability of biomedical technology products and their demand – with high costs and low manufacturing efficiency acting as key contributing factors towards this discrepancy. For this project, a simple sequential decellularised skin production process was designed based on the available information in the literature. In aiming to minimise the total cost of production, the size and quantity of components – as well as the time-sensitive scheduling of production stages – were optimised. Furthermore, the feasibility of eliminating freeze-drying to reduce the total cost of production was analysed, taking into account the difference between the reduction of operational costs and the additional costs that are incurred due to increased wastage from its reduced shelf life. Finally, this product is examined on a larger scale where all activities – from manufacturing to application – and the total costs incurred throughout the decellularised skin product lifetime is evaluated via the framework of value chain analysis proposed by Porter.

Authors: Gui, Y

• Type of award: MSc by Research
• Level of award: Masters
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English