Nov 3 2010
Scientists at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and the University of Toronto (U of T) have created a laser method that is likely to enable surgeons to slice tissue with better accuracy. The laser technique will considerably decrease scarring after surgery, as well as, recovery times.
U of T Professor of Physics and Chemistry, Dwayne Miller and his SickKids colleagues compared Picosecond IR Laser (PIRL), a surgical laser tool, with traditional surgical devices such as scalpels. The researchers observed that very less scarring occurred when PIRL was used on mice. The scars that occurred by using PIRL measured half the width of those generated by conventional procedures. The wounds also healed rapidly with PIRL surgery. The research study was published in PLoS ONE.
Miller stated that the new laser technique, based on energizing water in the biological tissue rapidly, would be a very gentle method of cutting the tissue. He added that by using PIRL, surgery could be done at a single cell level without causing much damage. Co-principal investigator of the research study, Professor Benjamin Alman commented that the PIRL vaporizes the tissue and results in minimal damage to the cells.
Source: http://www.utoronto.ca/