( CNN ) -- Researchers are developing a specialized skin `` printing '' system that could be used in the future to treat soldiers wounded on the battlefield . Scientists at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine were inspired by standard inkjet printers found in many home offices . `` We started out by taking a typical desktop inkjet cartridge . Instead of ink we use cells , which are placed in the cartridge , '' said Dr. Anthony Atala , director of the institute . The device could be used to rebuild damaged or burned skin . The project is in pre-clinical phases and may take another five years of development before it is ready to be used on human burn victims , he said . Other universities , including Cornell University and the Medical University of South Carolina , Charleston , are working on similar projects and will speak on the topic on Sunday at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Washington . These university researchers say organs -- not just skin -- could be printed using similar techniques . Burn injuries account for 5 % to 20 % of combat-related injuries , according to the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine . The skin printing project is one of several projects at Wake Forest largely funded by that institute , which is a branch of the U.S. Department of Defense . Wake Forest will receive approximately $ 50 million from the Defense Department over the next five years to fund projects , including the skin-creating system . Researchers developed the skin `` bio-printer '' by modifying a standard store-bought printer . One modification is the addition of a three-dimensional `` elevator '' that builds on damaged tissue with fresh layers of healthy skin . The skin-printing process involves several steps . First , a small piece of skin is taken from the patient . The sample is about half the size of a postage stamp , and it is taken from the patient by using a chemical solution . Those cells are then separated and replicated on their own in a specialized environment that catalyzes this cell development . `` We expand the cells in large quantities . Once we make those new cells , the next step is to put the cells in the printer , on a cartridge , and print on the patient , '' Atala said . The printer is then placed over the wound at a distance so that it does n't touch the burn victim . `` It 's like a flat-bed scanner that moves back and forth and put cells on you , '' said Atala . Once the new cells have been applied , they mature and form new skin . Specially designed printer heads in the skin bio-printer use pressurized nozzles -- unlike those found in traditional inkjet printers . The pressure-based delivery system allows for a safe distance between the printer and the patient and can accommodate a variety of body types , according to a 2010 report from the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine . The device can fabricate healthy skin in anywhere from minutes to a few hours , depending on the size and type of burn , according to the report . `` You are building up the cells layer after layer after layer , '' Atala said . Acquiring an adequate sample can be a challenge in victims with extensive burns , he said , since there is sometimes `` not enough ( skin ) to go around with a patient with large burns , '' Atala said . The sample biopsy would be used to grow new cells then placed in the printer cartridge , said Atala . Researchers said it is difficult to speculate when the skin printer may be brought to the battlefield , because of the stringent regulatory steps for a project of this nature . Once the skin-printing device meets federal regulations , military officials are optimistic it will benefit the general population as well as soldiers . `` We 're not making anything military-unique , '' said Terry Irgens , a program director at the U.S Army Medical Materiel Development Activity . `` We hope it will benefit both soldier and civilian , '' he said . In the meantime , researchers said they 're pleased with results of preliminary laboratory testing with the skin printer . Atala said the researchers already have been able to make `` healthy skin . ''
Scientists used a modified inkjet printer loaded with living cells . `` We are engineering human skin , '' says Dr. Anthony Atala . The project may take another five years of development before it is ready .