Surgeon uses revolutionary material to heal patients

The tiny rectangle of material looked like thin parchment.

Dr. Marc Gerdisch held the dull yellow patch in his hand. It was stiff, rough and nearly transparent. But inside that small patch are thousands of proteins that can help regrow human tissue.

Under the proper conditions, it becomes a lifesaving tool that helps patients repair their hearts.

Gerdisch is the first heart surgeon in the world to use a cutting-edge biotechnology to repair cardiovascular damage. Using a patch of cells, he can fix faulty valves, tears in blood vessels and infected heart tissue with an almost nonexistent chance of future repairs or complications.

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