Dame Julie Andrews's revolutionary operation on vocal chords

Dame Julie Andrews could be back singing on stage within a year or two thanks to a revolutionary new treatment that could repair her shattered vocal chords.

The British star of The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins is expected to be one of the first patients in the world to have man-made tissue injected into her voice box.

The Oscar winner has been unable to sing ever since surgery to remove non-cancerous nodules on her vocal cords in 1997.

The operation ruined her soprano voice and she sued the New York surgeons, winning £600,000 in an out-of-court settlement.
But now Professor Robert Langer, a tissue engineer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, along with voice specialist Dr Steven Zeitels believe they can give the star back her youthful voice.

They have developed a technique that involves removing scar tissue from the vocal cords and then injecting a gel called polyethylene glycol to replace it.
The man-made substance is specially designed to mimic the elasticity of the natural vocal chord without being rejected by the body.

The substance has already proved successful and safe in animals and is expected to be in the clinic within a year. Dame Julie has already expressed her desire to be a guinea pig for the new treatment.

"The substance is designed to vibrate and behave just like a vocal cord," said Professor Langer. "The animal trials have been very promising.

"Julie Andrews has been a great supporter. She came into our office and explained that she cannot hold a note because of scarring."

Professor Langer and Dr Zeitels have already made a 'map' of her throat while she was under anaesthetic.

The biggest challenge has been to find a suitable bio-material for the implants one pliable enough to oscillate and vibrate up to 200 times a second.