Bone Saw

Down through the ages, surgeons have used hammer and chisel, a variety of butchers' saws, and something like poultry shears whenever their work has forced them to tackle the difficult job of cutting through bone. Small wonder that they have been dubbed "sawbones," or that they have always hated the unpleasant word. And it was small wonder last week, when 2,500 sawbones swarmed into Miami Beach for the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, that what interested them most was a new and versatile drill saw that promised to ease their bone-sawing work even if it would not erase their nickname.

Conceived by Pittsburgh Oral Surgeon Robert M. Hall, and manufactured by Ohio's Aro Corp., the lightweight (6% oz.) device looks like one of the ultra-highspeed modern dental drills, and is driven by compressed air. The air power is a big safety factor; it permits surgeons to use the drill around explosive anesthetics without fear of sparks. But whereas most dental drills are controlled by a foot brake, the new model has a fingertip on-off control. It can turn up to 100,000 revolutions per minute and come to a dead stop in a fraction of a second. Its carbide burs will drill a neat hole or, if moved sideways, work like a power saw. The burs develop no heat as they drill or slice swiftly through bone.

Most striking of the many enthusiastic claims for the drill is that it will not damage flesh or other soft tissues. Many of last week's conventioneers plucked up their courage and jammed a bare finger against the whirring drill. It stopped without drawing blood or even causing pain. But shoved against bone or tissue that has been hardened by chalky deposits, the drill will cut with ease. One Pittsburgh surgeon has already used it to sculpture the delicate leaflets of an aortic valve (adjoining the heart) after they had been deformed by calcification. Because its lightness and small size permit pinpoint accuracy in bone sawing, the Hall drill is being recommended for other delicate procedures, such as work on the small bones of the hand and those deep inside the ear.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.