Whenever you got hurt which needs some stitches, the recovery will take a long time and you will carry these stiches until the day to remove them. You ever watch old science fiction movies and shows and marvel at how they handle medical things? Quick zap and boom! Your injury is all healed up. Well, unfortunately, we don’t live in that utopia yet, but a Seattle startup wants to get us a bit closer.
MicroMend, from KitoTech Medical, is, in essence, a specialized doodad that attaches to your skin like a bandage but has the healing power of a suture or a staple. Doctors simply align the device on either side of a wound, and arrange the gadget just so. Then, it begins to pull together slightly, holding the skin in place so it can fuse back together. And this is all without any extra things to insert or remove, or any more pain than you’d expect from the wound healing process.
The device packs the wound tight, helping prevent inflammation and infection. You don’t need to pierce the skin, either, as one would with stitches or staples, so you don’t need to traumatize already damaged tissue. Plus, the device can sure every part of the wound — helping and protecting the damaged skin even further.
The smart bandage, of sorts, has done exceptionally well in clinical trials and has helped patients recover far faster, with less scaring and with more even healing. Studies done on pigs, which have skin with similar properties to ours, have had “outstanding cosmetic results” when used to close large incisions — nearly 5 inches long — and during human trials, the device was three times faster to apply than sutures and patients preferred them 90% of the time, and said that they subjectively felt that MicroMend helped heal their wounds better.
Researchers presented it as a great option for helping wounds from all kinds of surgeries and helping those heal tougher areas such as the armpits or when cosmetic healing important, such as with surgeries near the face. It’s more convenient and economical for patients, because MicroMend devices can be removed by the patient at home per physician recommendation. This eliminates one of the major reasons for a return clinic visit.
Source: http://www.kitotechmedical.com/