It has been two years since I started this column. I proudly expressed my intention to write based on active research in the first issue. However, I could only go on tours with domestic companies and hospitals, and it was challenging to deliver hot news overseas due to Corona 19.
I had an opportunity to present four presentations at the American Society of Laser Medicine, the world's largest medical laser-related conference, held in San Diego in April. As I encountered new technology, I realized that only online-obtained information has a specific limit. At this event, many foreign companies and domestic companies competed and introduced many new technologies. I want to introduce a medical device, one of the most outstanding.
This device showed such a striking wrinkle treatment effect that even the speakers joked, "It's a laser-related conference, but I am most likely to introduce this non-laser equipment." Laser scientists became interested in this medical device because it was jointly developed by the world's most famous laser research team at Harvard University's Wellman Optical Medicine Research Center. This device was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in July 2021 to treat wrinkles in the center of the face or lower face.
Dermatologists in their first year frequently performed a biopsy, using round punches of various diameters from 2 to 6 mm. As the years passed, to perform folliculectomy during hair transplantation, they used a punch with a small diameter of about 1 mm. As such, the punch is as familiar to dermatologists as the needle.
The principle of this device is straightforward. The device consists of a disposable kit of three microcoring needles and a suction tube. It operates on the principle of removing the skin tissue by the inhaler attached to the punch after the punch punctures the skin tissue. The automatic punch operation can perform punch and tissue suction at a very high speed.
The punch diameter is less than 0.5mm, corresponding to a 22-24 gauge needle. Just as no scars are left when taking blood samples with a needle, so is the case with this device. The operator can arbitrarily adjust the punch depth from 0 to 4.0 mm.
Also, the more punch holes are made, the more tissue is removed, and wrinkles are improved. The micropores caused by Punch suction are filled in within a few days during the wound healing process, and wrinkles are smoothed out after 2-3 months to resolve skin sagging.
According to the data presented by the American Society of Laser Medicine in 2019, one treatment improves 85% of patients in wrinkles without side effects, and it also shows the effectiveness in acne scars and stretch marks. I look forward to seeing this device in Korea soon.
