Thousands of people needing facial reconstructions after being injured in car crashes or falls are set to benefit from pioneering 3D modelling.

Scientists will now be able to use precise models of skin cells in the human lip to make treatment simpler and better.

The technology is expected to improve surgery for cleft lip and palate conditions, including children born with such developmental problems.

In a study scientists reported the successful reproduction of lip cells and the development of lip models in the laboratory.

The skin on the lips is far more complex than other skin on the human body, and primary lip cells have been difficult to find for research, making it harder to improve treatments for complicated lip conditions.

Now researchers have developed a continuously replicating model of lip cells in the laboratory. Using donated lip tissue they created cell lines which can be grown indefinitely to make 3D models for research and for testing repairs.

Dr Martin Degen, at the University of Bern in Switzerland, said: “We use our lips to talk, eat, drink, and breathe, and they signal our emotions to others, our state of health, and, especially in women, aesthetic beauty.

“It takes a complex structure to perform so many roles and so lip conditions or defects can be hard to repair effectively.

“Until now research models using lip cells have not been available.”

Researchers took skin cells from tissue donated by two patients, one undergoing treatment for a lip laceration and another for a cleft lip.

Dr Degen added: “Without these cells it is impossible to mimic the characteristics of lips in laboratory tests.”