Pixelated Skin Resection Device for Scarless Tightening
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical procedures for addressing skin laxity, such as facelifts and brachioplasty, result in visible scarring and significant post-operative pain, while electromagnetic devices are limited in effectiveness and suitable only for moderate skin laxity, and are not applicable to all areas of the body due to scarring concerns.
Innovation Solution
A minimally invasive, disposable device that performs small, pixilated resections of skin using a rolling/rotating pixel drum or oscillating flat array of scalpets, allowing for skin tightening without visible scarring, and includes a skin grafting mechanism to reduce donor site scarring, with potential for use in areas not suitable for traditional plastic surgery due to scarring concerns.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If traditional surgical procedures (facelift, brachioplasty) are used to address skin laxity, then skin tightening is achieved, but visible scarring and significant post-operative pain occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the skin treatment into multiple small, discrete pixel-sized resections rather than one large surgical incision. The scalpet array creates numerous tiny cuts that are individually minimal but collectively effective for skin tightening, thereby reducing visible scarring while maintaining the skin tightening effect
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional electromagnetic heating methods with a mechanical scalpet array system. This mechanical approach creates physical resections that stimulate collagen production and skin tightening through controlled wound healing, avoiding the limitations and side effects of electromagnetic devices while achieving better results for severe laxity
2Object-affected harmful factors
If electromagnetic devices are used for skin tightening, then treatment without surgery is achieved, but effectiveness is limited to moderate skin laxity and visible scarring still occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the fundamental parameter of skin treatment from non-invasive electromagnetic energy to minimally invasive mechanical resection. By controlling the size, density, and pattern of pixel-sized cuts, the system achieves effective skin tightening for severe laxity while maintaining minimal visible scarring and leveraging the body's natural wound healing response
3Strength
If traditional plastic surgery is performed on certain body areas, then skin laxity is corrected, but scarring occurs in visible or sensitive areas
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different resection patterns and densities to different body areas based on their specific characteristics and visibility concerns. The scalpet array can be configured to create pixel patterns optimized for each anatomical region, achieving effective skin tightening while adapting the treatment to minimize visible scarring in sensitive areas
Data Source
AI summary
A new minimally invasive surgical approach is proposed that contemplates a method and apparatus for tightening lax skin without visible scarring via a device in various surgical procedures such as plastic surgery procedures. In some embodiments, the device is a single use disposable instrument. This approach circumvents surgically related scarring and the clinical variability of electromagnetic heating of the skin and performs small multiple pixilated resections of skin as a minimally invasive alternative to large Plastic surgical resections of skin. This approach can also be employed in areas of the body that are currently off limits to plastic surgery due to the visibility of the surgical scar. In addition, the approach can perform a skin grafting operation by harvesting the transected incisions of skin from a tissue site of a donor onto a skin defect site of a recipient with reduced scarring of the patient's donor site.