Current status of skin substitutes.

In the current state of the art, viable human allograft is the best skin prosthesis available, but it leaves much to be desired. Characteristics of skin substitutes can be defined and measured, resulting in the rational approach to design and testing of synthetic skin substitutes. Thin silicone polymer and modified plastic membranes, collagen films, and adherent methacrylate polymer applied by a spray technique (Hydron) are the most promising materials at present.