DALLAS, March 26 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have invented a system they say might lead to surgical procedures that don't produce scars.

University of Texas researchers created the technique -- still in the developmental stage -- that allows the magnetic maneuvering of laparoscopic surgical tools inserted into the abdominal cavity through a patient's naval or throat.

Dr. Jeffrey Cadeddu, an associate professor of urology and radiology at the UT Southwestern Medical Center, said he got the idea while watching a television show featuring teenagers who used magnets to hold studs on their lips to avoid lip piercing.

The system uses magnets positioned outside the abdomen to attract magnets attached to laparoscopic instruments inside the abdomen. Surgeons move the outside magnets to position an internal camera or to move a surgical instrument.

In animal studies, surgeons have been able to remove a kidney using the system.

Cadeddu and colleagues describe the new surgical concept, called the Magnetic Anchoring and Guidance System, in the March edition of the journal Annals of Surgery.