This is real science fiction stuff. A laser being used to quickly seal and heal wounds. But this real one does it without any smokey, flashing dramatic burning. A cool, visible-light green laser is used along with some special pink dye to excite proteins in your tissue to bind together.
Technically it's called "photochemical tissue bonding" and its new enough that, as of this writing, it isn't even in Wikipedia yet. I'm guessing that it pretty quickly get a handier name, like "laser stitching" or "light suture" (I like that one. You heard it here!)
A little of the pink dye is put onto the edges of the wound or incision, and then the green laser is shined on it. The dye absorbs the green light and causes a chemical change in the proteins it touches so that they bind with their neighbors, making a moisture-tight and quite natural bond. Amazing!
Apparently it's been in testing for a year or so, but the US Air Force announced this week that it will begin testing it in forward combat situations.
The technique was discovered and developed at Massachusetts General Hospital who announced it to the world just last year. They recently completed clinical testing of the amazingly simple process and say that can be used instead of stitches, or staples, or glues typically used to repair skin wounds. It can even be used to reconnect nerves and corneal incisions as well as tendons and blood vessels.
The light sutures (sticking with my name) act instantly. It's easy to imagine that this process can speed up and make easier a lot of delicate and troublesome work in the operating room.
The developers -- Harvard Medical School professor and Massachusetts General Hospital Wellman Center researcher, Dr. Irene Kochevar and her colleague at Wellman, Associate Professor Robert Redmond -- explain that the process uses no proteins or glues that can cause additional inflammation.and that, because of the seal, there is better scar formation.
And, to top it off, because there are stitches, then, of course, you don't have to go back to the doctor to have them removed!.
This a wonderful idea. Definitely helpful to people everywhere. (Though I, personally, will hate to see what happens when body-moders get ahold of it.)
hi i would love to be a part of your experiment ......i have excess skin on my nose and would lov to cut the skin without real stiches,,,,i had 4 cosmetic surgeries without any good result
hopefully your laser stiches should help
thankssss