Traditional surgery to reshape a nose or ear entails cutting and suturing, sometimes followed by long recovery times and scars.
Traditional surgery to reshape a nose or ear entails cutting and suturing, sometimes followed by long recovery times and scars. But now, researchers have developed a “molecular surgery” process that uses tiny needles, electric current and 3D-printed molds to quickly reshape living tissue with no incisions, scarring or recovery time. The technique even shows promise as a way to fix immobile joints or as a noninvasive alternative to laser eye surgery.
The researchers will present their results today at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Spring 2019 National Meeting & Exposition. ACS, the world’s largest scientific society, is holding the meeting here through Thursday. It features nearly 13,000 presentations on a wide range of science topics.
“We envision this new technique as a low-cost office procedure done under local anesthesia,” says Michael Hill, Ph.D., one of the project’s principal investigators, who will discuss the work at the meeting. “The whole process would take about five minutes.”
Read more at American Chemical Society
Image: A new noninvasive process can alter the curve of a cornea from that seen in blue in a) to the new position seen in red in b) to fix vision problems.
Credit: Rachel Qu, Anna Stokolosa, Charlotte Cullip
