With the modern age and the development of technology, medicine has developed, as well as its multiple branches. Some of them, such as microsurgery, have experienced great expansion and significant development. In this text, we will deal with the areas of microsurgery – but also recent innovations in this medical field.
Microsurgery: The Medical Branch Of The Future
Today, transplantation of the face, hands, and feet is possible thanks to microsurgery. Has the medicine gone a step further with this branch? It certainly is – and with the development and use of new technologies, it seems that we have already entered the future. However, there are those for whom it is not very clear what microsurgery is and which areas it covers with its activities. For those who need the most basic explanation, we will say that microsurgery is a special surgical technique based on expanding the operative field using a surgical microscope or special glasses. It is most often a surgical treatment of problems in structures that are difficult to see, such as nerves, blood vessels, etc. So, this is a sophisticated technique used by well-trained surgeons, in orthopedics, plastic surgery, or any branch of medicine. Today, very small structures can be treated thanks to powerful modern microscopes – and very thin and small sutures and instruments that help doctors with reconstruction.
What Is Progress And What Are The Biggest Innovations In Microsurgery?
The progress is huge! Namely, if we look throughout history, the whole branch of surgery was more or less basically oriented towards life-saving – and was less concerned with the possible re-establishment of the functions of damaged elements or tissues. Today, thanks to the progress and development of techniques, technologies, and microsurgery devices – everything is much different. Here are some examples of significant advances in microsurgery.
1. Facial transplant
This incredible undertaking is one of the recent achievements of microsurgery, in which no less than 140 healthcare professionals have participated. It is by far the most complex and successful surgery ever performed. The entire intervention involved transplanting vascularized tissues from one part of the body to another. That is extremely complex to work on the face and still manage to provide most of the functions necessary for a normal life.
2. A bionic hand with a sense of touch
Although it seems as if we have stepped into the future, the fact is that the combination of science and medicine has led to the development of a bionic arm – a prosthesis that can restore the sense of touch through a beam of electrodes and sophisticated sensors. The technology that enables such a functional and wearable prosthesis unites the mechanism of the artificial hand with a computer that translates information from artificial fingers into the language of impulses. The brain understands it and then returns the impulses to the body via electrodes.
3. Breast reconstruction with the help of abdominal tissue
Although this may not be the latest achievement of microsurgery, it is of great importance today for patients who are in a situation where they have to undergo such surgical intervention. It is already known that the abdomen is a frequently used donor site for this type of surgery. It is because the abdominal tissue largely coincides with the breast tissue. In addition, many female patients add as a bonus the fact that the tissue is most often removed from the lower abdomen – which with later good surgery almost gives the effect of abdominoplasty or tummy tuck.
The Bottom Line
Although microsurgery is a young branch of medicine that has only been developing since the 1960s – its progress with the help of the development of technology and new knowledge in medicine is almost unbelievable. What all experts in this field agree on, is that progress will continue rapidly and that we will soon experience the future in the way we once imagined or watched in SF films.
