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star trek - Why can't surgery be done by transporter?


In the era of Star Trek: The Next Generation (or even earlier), why isn't invasive surgery performed using the transporter? In theory, one could:



  • dematerialize an individual and store the pattern in the buffer

  • perform "surgery" by altering the pattern appropriately

  • rematerialize the individual


From an in-universe point of view, why is this not the preferred method of surgical intervention? Is it the challenge of altering the pattern?



It would be most desirable to have an answer that (a) explains why this approach to surgery cannot be done or — if it can — then why it is not done very often in TNG; and (b) gives examples of when it has been done (if such examples exist).


Differentiation: The question Why aren't transporters used for medical purposes? is in a similar vein. However, that question is about restoring back to a previous (healthier) pattern. The present question is about directly altering a single copy of a pattern, without using any data from previous patterns.




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