The cordless Humeca D42 and D80 dermatomes
In the nineties a team of surgeons of the Red Cross Hospital Beverwijk
and biomedical engineers of the Humeca consulting group re-designed
the MEEK skin grafting technique. This ingenious method is applied
for skin transplantation, especially in burn surgery. The modified
MEEK method was introduced in 1993 and is now in use in burn surgery
all over the world.
After this, a second item was put in hand by the same team of experts:
the development of a small dermatome that cuts a 42 mm wide autograft
strip. Such a dermatome not only facilitates cutting of the 42x42 mm
graft required for the MEEK technique; it's also an excellent tool
in paediatric and general plastic surgery, especially for primary excision
and harvesting grafts from curved surfaces. For the same dermatome
also a wider cutting head was designed for more general use.
Features:
- Extremely small head for D42 (width 64 mm only!) allows
precision cutting, especially in case of problematic zones
and paediatric surgery.
- Cordless, battery operated and lightweight design offers
optimum manoeuvrability and mobility.
- Precise thickness of the graft from 0.1 to 1.2 mm in 0.1
mm increments.
- Graft width of 42 mm assures optimum performance in combination
with the MEEK technique.
- Also smaller grafts widths can be cut, by placing a width
reducing clamp on the dermatome head.
- Battery and motor of the instrument are mounted in a removable
cartridge that is not sterilized, thus guaranteeing optimum
durability of the motor.
- Thickness adjustment can be fixed to prevent accidental
change of graft thickness during cutting.
- Safe and quick blade replacement.
- Design of autoclave case prevents accidental
sterilization of motor-/battery pack.
Humeca D42 and D80 dermatomes are designed the to meet the highest
standards in skin graft cutting. Our main goal was to offer the surgeon
mobile and easy manoeuvrable precision skin cutting instruments.
For
optimum mobility, a battery operated, cordless design was chosen.
For enhanced manoeuvrability the head of the dermatome was kept as
small as possible. The maximum width of only 64 mm (type D42) assures
easy cutting, even in problematic zones and for eschar excision.
Besides, through the use of lightweight materials (aluminium), the
total weight
of the instrument was limited to only 1100 grams, which is quite
exceptional for a battery operated dermatome. The small size makes
the Humeca D42
dermatome extremely useful in paediatric surgery.
The graft width of 42 mm is suitable in combination with the MEEK
technique, used in burn surgery for skin grafting. Besides, by means
of a width
reducing clamp, simply to be placed on the cutting head, the dermatome
also cuts grafts of 36 and 30 mm widths.
The Humeca D80 dermatome cuts a width of 80 mm, which can be reduced
with clamps to 65 and 50 mm.
The blades of the dermatomes are precision grinded in a double facet
shape for minimum resistance during cutting and uniform graft thickness.
The blade cuts at a maximum speed of 5450 strokes per minute, assuring
smooth operation. When opened, the cover of the dermatome is completely
turned away, thus enabling quick and safe blade replacement.
Graft thickness varies from 0-1.2 mm and is adjusted by means of
an adjusting lever and the readings on a thickness scale. The lever
can
be fixed at positions that correspond with thickness increments of
0.1 mm. Fixation of the lever prevents accidental change of graft
thickness during cutting.
As a part of this development, Humeca performed a comparative study
to investigate the need for repairs for different dermatomes currently
in the market. In all cases the motor appeared to be the most vulnerable
part and damage mainly resulted from repeated washing and/or sterilization
procedures. Based on these findings, our point of view is that for
optimum durability and minimum maintenance, the motor of a dermatome
should not be sterilized. That=s why in our design the battery pack
and the motor are incorporated in a cartridge that is to be removed
before sterilization. To prevent accidental sterilization of the
cartridge, a special stainless steel autoclave case was developed
that can only
contain the dermatome when the cartridge has been removed. Before
use the non-sterile cartridge is put into the power shaft of the
dermatome
by means of a sterile clamp to avoid contamination. The cartridge
can be separated into a motor pack cartridge and a battery pack cartridge
to allow change of battery if required.
The battery pack is inserted in a charger support unit for charching.
The pack is fully charged in only 1,5 hours.
For more information on products and the latest manuals and instructions, see: www.humeca.nl |
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