Double-Bladed Costal Cartilage Cutter

Brief Description

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have developed a practical cutting device for obtaining uniformly thick cartilage slices from the costal (rib) cartilage.The cartilage slices are used for surgical reconstruction procedures.The importance of this device is that it yields highly uniform slices from the central core of a rib cartilage specimen.These slices are used as grafts in facial reconstructive procedures such as rhinoplasty and otoplasty.

Suggested uses

This invention can be used to obtain highly uniform thick cartilage slices for use in reconstructive surgeries such as rhinoplasty and otoplasty.

Advantages

Costal cartilage is traditionally cut using a scalpel.The disadvantage of this method is that obtaining flat slices with a scalpel is imprecise and time-consuming.The invention has the advantage of producing highly uniform specimens in a relatively short time period, thus providing the physician with useable tissue for facial surgical procedures in a timely fashion.

Patent Status