marvel cinematic universe - Did the Extremis Virus have anything to do with Tony removing …

At the end of the Iron Man 3,

Pepper Potts was infected with the Extremis Virus, which Tony then cured. As the scene is being narrated, he says something like, "Taking it one step further..." — before having doctors remove the shrapnel from his chest. This gives me the impression that the Extremis Virus is somehow related to him being able to remove the shrapnel from his chest.

Is this true?

Answer

It is not definitively resolved but we can make several suppositions:

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  If Stark had been able to remove the fragments before now, he would have done so rather than risk death aggravating his potential heart injury several times by driving his body to its limits.

  
  


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  He had been told it would be impossible to remove the fragments no matter how skilled the surgeons were, none were willing to risk it.

  
  


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  Since he was able to reverse-engineer the technology and effects of Extremis from Pepper, he would have both the technology to create the process as well as reverse it.

  
  

It would be logical for Stark to create a means of activating and utilizing the Extremis process in conjunction with an excellent surgical team because even if they made a mistake removing the shrapnel, a slight activation of the Extremis technology would repair any damage long enough for any surgeon to do their work. Why not utilize it to remove the shrapnel if he could?

An alternative answer could also be:

The giant electromagnet above the surgeon's heads may have been an invention created specifically by Stark to aid a previously unwilling surgeon to take the risk in removing the metallic shards.