Pixel Array Dermatome for Minimal Scarring Skin Tightening
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for managing age-related skin laxity and burns often result in visible scarring, prolonged healing times, and limitations in skin graft harvesting, particularly due to the need for extensive surgical incisions and donor site deformities.
Innovation Solution
The development of a Pixel Array Dermatome (PAD) system that enables fractional resection and skin grafting with minimal scarring by using a scalpet array to create small skin plugs, which are then harvested and applied to a semi-porous adherent membrane for reapplication, allowing for repeated harvesting without donor site deformity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If traditional surgical incisions are used for skin laxity resection, then skin tightening is achieved, but visible scarring occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the continuous surgical incision into multiple small discrete incisions arranged in a pixel array pattern. Each incision is treated as an independent unit, allowing the skin to be resected and tightened while the small scattered incisions heal with minimal visible scarring compared to a single large incision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different treatment intensities and incision densities to different regions of the skin based on local requirements. Areas requiring more tightening have higher pixel density, while sensitive areas have lower density, optimizing the balance between skin tightening effect and scar visibility.
2Quantity of substance
If split thickness skin grafts are harvested from donor sites, then skin defects are covered, but donor site deformities occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent harvests skin in small pixel-sized units rather than large sheet grafts. This segmentation allows multiple small grafts to be taken from the same donor site at different times, and the donor site heals between harvests with minimal visible deformity, enabling repeated harvesting.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent allows the donor site to heal and recover between harvesting sessions. The small pixel incisions heal quickly, allowing the same donor site to be used multiple times for skin graft harvesting, effectively recovering the donor site's functionality.
3Shape
If extensive surgical incisions are made for skin resection, then skin laxity is corrected, but healing time is prolonged
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing the resection into many small pixel incisions rather than one large incision, each small incision heals independently and much faster. The segmented approach reduces overall healing time while achieving the same skin tightening effect.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables staged treatment where pixel incisions are made in sessions spaced weeks apart, allowing partial healing between sessions. This periodic approach reduces the burden on any single healing period while achieving complete skin laxity correction over time.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments include a system comprising a carrier and a cannula assembly. The carrier includes a proximal end and a distal end, and the proximal end is configured to removeably couple to a remote console. The cannula assembly, which is configured to removeably couple to the distal end of the carrier, is configured for rotational fractional resection (RFR) and includes at least one cannula rotatably coupled to the carrier and enclosed in a depth guide configured to control an insertion depth of the at least one cannula. The depth guide includes a vacuum chamber configured to form vacuum to evacuate resected tissue generated by the RFR.