| abstract |
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. |