Burn specialists at an Ontario hospital say they have carried out a world-first treatment using a novel biological therapy to treat a young woman severely injured in a house fire.

Hamilton Health Sciences said its team used exosomes — tiny particles released by cells that help coordinate healing and reduce inflammation — to treat 18-year-old Western University student Kaitlin Jeffrey after a fire in London, Ont., last December.

The particles, typically collected from lab-grown cells, were injected into injured areas with the goal of accelerating healing and reducing the need for skin grafts, which can leave scarring and uneven results.

Experts say exosomes have been studied for years in burn research, but had not previously been used on human burn patients, though they have shown promise in other types of wound healing.

Dr. Marc Jeschke, a burn surgeon at the hospital and a professor at McMaster University, led the procedure after seeking approval from Health Canada on compassionate grounds. With no objection from federal regulators, the team proceeded, becoming the first in the world to use the treatment in a burn case.

“You can do the best graft on the planet, but you won’t return the skin to normal,” Jeschke said, noting that facial grafts can be particularly difficult, especially for younger patients.