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An innovative skin substitute is giving hope to patients with wounds that refuse to heal properly.

Virtually identical to human skin but without sweat glands or hair follicles, Apligraf works by stimulating the immune system into kickstarting the body's own healing process.

Sub-postmaster David Scullion is one of the first people in the UK to be treated with Apligraf. He is seeing the first signs of recovery after eight years of failed treatments.

He developed a leg ulcer after he was stung by a wasp on his right shin while on holiday in Spain. Over the years, it grew from the size of a 50 pence piece to a diameter of 6in by 8in after two skin grafts failed to heal the wound.

In April, he began treatment with Apligraf, and early signs show a significant improvement in his condition.

David, 36, from Stockton-on-Tees, says: 'For the past two years there has been no healing at all on my shin, but now islands of new skin are beginning to form.

'I would say that there is about 20pc new growth, which is amazing considering I have been having the treatment for only a couple of months.'

Developed by the pharmaceutical company Novartis, Apligraf is made from donor skin cells (some of which have come from skin discarded after operations such as circumcisions).

These cells are mixed with collagen - the main protein found in connective tissue - from animal sources. Once the two have bonded, human fibroblasts develop. These are the cells that help to heal wounds and promote further growth of collagen. The resulting product is a living skin.

Increasingly used in the United States, the treatment is being pioneered in the UK by Professor David Leaper, who is a surgeon at the University Hospital of North-Tees. He has arranged for the special tissue to be flown in from the U.S.

He says: 'This is the nearest thing to full-blown skin. The skin is about three inches in diameter and looks exactly like a skin graft which you might take from some-one's thigh.

'It is a filmy white material. You make little holes in it as you would normally with a skin graft to allow the fluid from the wound to pass through, and then you just put it on the wound.

'You don't get a direct "takeî like you would with a graft from your own skin, but what it seems to do is direct the wound to heal.

'Many ulcers are stuck in a "dead slowî situation, and this seems to orchestrate them to heal.'

At any given time, 1 pc of the population has an ulcer that will not heal. Venous leg ulcers are the most common kind of skin ulcer and they can be difficult to treat. In the elderly, they have a tendency to recur.

They are caused by a number of conditions, such as poor circulation, diabetes and injury, and some may need years of treatment.

Ulceration can extend through the full thickness of skin, and the ensuing inflammation and poor circulation can severely hinder the healing process.

Conventional medical therapy for leg ulcers involves a range of treatments, from proprietary creams and medicated dressings to compression bandaging, which helps aid circulation. David's had the lot.

He explains: 'I've had everything from four-layer bandaging to different creams and potions on my leg, antibiotic therapy and two major skin grafts - using skin from my thighs - which, unfortunately, didn't take and increased the size of the wound.

'I've also had to spend months in and out of hospital.'

For the new treatment to work, David's wound needed to be free from infection. The new skin was placed directly on top of his ulcer and then covered with a standard dressing before being bandaged.

David says: 'Once the Apligraf is in position, it soaks into your leg and the dressing is not touched for about ten days to allow the new skin to stimulate your own skin to grow. I wear a compression bandage all the time, from my knee down to my toes.

'After ten days, the outer dressings are removed so that the growth can be monitored. My leg is then re-bandaged. Once the wound has completely healed, the skin should be thicker.'

U.S. studies have shown that patients who have been treated with Apligraf and compression bandage therapy achieved complete wound healing. This was more than double that of patients treated by compression therapy alone. It also decreased the time wounds took to heal.

In the UK, treating leg ulcers is estimated to cost the NHS between £300 million and £600 million a year. According to Professor Leaper, the new tissue could prove a cost-effective way of managing the condition in the future - and ultimately be used to treat other conditions, including cuts and burns.

In the meantime, David is getting ready to return to outpatients for a second treatment with Apligraf.

He says: 'Ultimately, I am looking forward to a better quality of life. This ulcer has disrupted my life for eight years.

'It's the little things that get you down, such as not being able to take a shower or go swimming, and having to remember to pack a suitcase full of bandages if I go on holiday. But, hopefully, my life will return to normal soon.'