Professor Wong (left) with his research group

Brian J.F. Wong, MD,PhD, Professor and Director of Facial Plastic Surgery at the University of California Irvine received a three year $830,000 grant from the Department of Defense to investigate novel methods to control cartilage warping in costal cartilage grafts. Extensive study of using lasers to generate heat by the Dr. Wong and his colleagues at the University of California, Irvine, led directly to a spin-off technology, referred to as electromechanical reshaping (EMR) or electroforming. EMR is a novel and patented tissue reshaping technique that may allows surgeons to bend cartilage into the shape they desire by simply inserting platinum plated needles, then applying electrical current from a source as common as a disposable battery. The process does not involve heat generation and instead relies upon redox reactions in the tissue to alter stress and strain relationships. EMR will potentially provide surgeons with a new way to change the shape of cartilage tissue in a much more elegant manner without having to crush, carve, or suture.