Laser scalpel

"...Let's see what effect the laser scalpel has."

―Ash to Dallas (from Alien: The Illustrated Story)

Laser scalpel Alien film — A laser scalpel in the hands of Science Officer Ash as seen in the 1979 film *Alien*.

A laser scalpel^[1], also referred to as a laser knife^[2], light-blade^[3], or laser blade, is a handheld surgical tool that uses a focused laser beam to cut a patient or subject no deeper than its epidermis with precision.

History[]

In order to extract the trilobite growing inside of her, Dr. Elizabeth Shaw utilized the automated laser scalpel feature of a Pauling MedPod 720i to perform an emergency surgery aboard the USCSS Prometheus' escape module. Science Officer Ash operated a laser scalpel aboard the USCSS Nostromo in 2122 when trying to remove a facehugger from Kane's head which caused the creature to bleed an acid-like substance strong enough to eat through a number of the ship's decks.

Trivia[]

While the surgical tool was not mentioned by name in the original 1979 film Alien, the films script referred to the device as a laser blade while the film's novelization referred to it as a laser knife and a light-blade. It wasn't until the release of the film's 1979 comic book adaptation, Alien: The Illustrated Story, that the technical term "laser scalpel" was used by Ash, which then went on to be mentioned in the 1988 comic book series Aliens, its novel adaptation, and a number of subsequent franchise-related releases.
In the novelization of the 1986 film Aliens, the file for John Marachuk mentioned that the medical team at Hadley's Hope "had to use surgical lasers to both remove and cauterize the specimen."^[4]
While the surgical tool was not mentioned by name in the 2012 film Prometheus, a viral campaign for the film, known as Project Prometheus, included a fictional ad that introduced the Puling MedPod 720i in which the laser scalpel was referenced by name.