Micromachined dermabraders for plastic surgical applications

Miniature abrasion tools for potential skin resurfacing applications are created using MEMS fabrication technology. The abrading microstructures are formed on silicon wafers by a one-mask bulk micromachining process based on isotropic xenon difluoride etching. The micromachined abraders (microdermabraders) are packaged and applied to human cadaveric skin to remove wrinkles. Dermabraded and intact skin regions are analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively by light microscopy and image processing techniques. Overall, the microdermabraders performed favorably compared to commercially available plastic microreplicated structures. The microdermabraders provided a consistently uniform cut through the epidermal layers of cadaveric skin, leaving little debris and minimal pitting.