Medicine: Skin Gun Heals Severe Burns in Days

Unlike other medical devices used to treat burn victims, this groundbreaking skin gun by Jorg C. Gerlach and colleagues at Stem Cell Systems GmbH in Berlin uses "individual adult stem cells from the patient's uninjured skin are applied to the wound site, where they differentiate into normal skin." Via: Kotaku

The newly introduced stem cells are able to regenerate and differentiate into their respective parts in a matter of days. The first phase of gathering the patient's stem cells, creating a solution, and applying the stem cells takes approximately 1.5-2 hours. Within a week, the wound dressing procedure allows the stem skin cells to fully generate normal skin, and after a couple of months the skin regains its color and texture.

Video Distraction: Surgery Robot Folds Paper Airplane

Dr. James Porter, medical director of robotic surgery at Swedish folds a small paper airplane with the da Vinci robot to demonstrate how this device gives surgeons greater surgical precision and dexterity over existing approaches.

Minimally invasive robot-assisted surgery can offer patients significant benefits over traditional approaches, including less post-operative pain, shorter hospital stay, less blood loss, faster recovery time and quicker return to normal daily activities.

Medicine: Ultrasound Surgery

Imagine having a surgery with no knives involved. At TEDMED, Yoav Medan shares a technique that uses MRI to find trouble spots and focused ultrasound to treat such issues as brain lesions, uterine fibroids and several kinds of cancerous growths.