Star-Trek-like medical laser sutures deep wounds

Wounds can be healed with a medical device that uses lasers like a Star Trek dermal regenerator, reported MMN

Developed by researchers from the University of St. Andrews and Harvard Medical School the idea to use lasers to heal wounds is not a new one but previous techniques have encountered limitations such as the inability to reach deep wounds without burning the skin. MMN reported that the new technology does not face this issue.

The researchers developed a waveguide that can focus laser light down into deep wounds and is made from a biodegradable polymer, so it can be left in the wound to break down harmlessly after the injury has properly healed.

This device developed by the researchers uses a technique called ‘nano-suturing’. This technique uses lasers in addition to a medical dye called Rose Bengal in order to suture wounds.

The dermal collagen proteins in Rose Bengal, when struck by the lasers, steal an electron from nearby collagen molecules, which causes them bind to each other to make up for the imbalance. Over time the wound then heals and the polymer biodegrades.

The researchers have named the process ‘photomedicine’ and unlike current methods of suturing does not cause scarring as it allows skin to bind at the molecular level MMN reported.