SE1451044A1

SE1451044A1 - Pathology knife

Info

Publication number: SE1451044A1
Application number: SE1451044A
Authority: SE
Inventors: Karin Schemschat
Original assignee: Karin Schemschat
Priority date: 2014-09-09
Filing date: 2014-09-09
Publication date: 2016-03-10
Also published as: SE539500C2

Abstract

ABSTRACTA disposable handheld pathology knife comprising a razorblade, a razorblade holder and a handle. The razorblade being molded fixed into the razorblade holder and wherein therazorblade holder is an extended part of the handle. ln between the razorblade holder andthe handle an indentation is placed for breaking off the handle and razorblade andrazorblade holder apart. The breaking off may be done using a specialized casing. The casingis constructed to help break the knife apart at the indentation and is also configured to keep the sharp broken off piece safely. The separated parts may be disposed or recycled.

Description

PATHOLOGY KNIFE FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a handheld pathology knife for cutting tissue.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Cutting and dissecting tissue from a body may be done for several reasons. lfforinstance a patient has passed away from a disease, his or her organs may need to beinvestigated. Another reason may be to gain better knowledge of how to treat a patient thathas undergone surgery and removed a tumor.

No matter the reason for cutting the tissue, part of the cutting has to be performedby hand. Cutting human tissue differs severely from cutting tissue from an animal. Humantissue, skin and bowels are in many ways harder to cut than the same from i.e. a pig. Thehuman tissue, bowels and inside of the skin are much fatter and slippery than that from ananimal. Hence, using a very sharp blade is necessary for obtaining sharp and exact cuts.When cutting the tissue, the knife tends to become dull which leads to jagged and imprecisecuts. Especially if cutting through various kinds of sutures.

On the market today there are numerous different types of surgical pathology knifesavailable. Some of them have traditional design with a fixed blade and handle whilst othershave a design with a handle and a changeable blade. For the traditional designed knife, onemajor problem is keeping the edge sharp enough. Having to sharpening the knife not onlytakes time, but also requires a certain skill for a satisfactory result. The knife also has to bewashed and disinfected on a regular basis. Some ofthe traditional designed knifes aredisposable and does not have to be sharpened. Disposable or not, they still have the sameproblem with keeping the edge sharp enough.

For knifes with a changeable blade, a mechanical mechanism for releasing andtightening the blade is part ofthe knife. Conventionally this mechanism has involved somesort of tightening screw. A great disadvantage with this solution is that the workingenvironment, with different types of body fluids, is corrosive to the mechanism. Thisenvironment often leading to problems with i.e. the screw getting stuck or hard to work with. Having to change a blade, i.e. a razorblade, on a knife covered in slippery body fluids whilst at the same time working a stuck screw, have on several occasion lead to severeinjuries to the personnel that are slipping and cutting themselves. All kinds of workingrelated accidents are considered a big issue for any employer, especially since the personnelhandling these knifes may be working with an infected tissue. For knifes with changeableblades, the handle needs to be washed and disinfected on a regular basis.

Cutting accidents remain a big problem throughout the dissecting work. The slipperyworking environment allows for a greater cutting risk. The handle may become hard to holdon to and the hand holding it may slide off and on to the sharp edge. A cutting tool thateliminates the risk of being cut as well as having a continuous sharp edge and does not need to be washed would be beneficiary for the personnel performing the cut.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A disposable handheld pathology knife comprising a razorblade, a razorblade holderand a handle wherein the razorblade is molded fixed into the razorblade holder and whereinthe razorblade holder is an extended part of the handle. ln between the razorblade holderand the handle, an indentation is placed. This indentation may i.e. be placed perpendicularto a longitudinal axis and a transversal axis of the razorblade holder. One advantage with theindentation is that the razorblade holder and razorblade may easily be separated from thehandle by breaking them apart from each other. The indentation, that also may be placed ina non perpendicular angle contra any axis, is constructed to be able to withstand the forcecreated when operating the knife in a cutting mode without breaking apart. The handle andrazorblade holder may be separated by snapping them off at the indentation. Oneadvantage with this is that the user does not risk cutting themselves when changing therazorblade as he might with the previous changeable knife types. The risk of involuntarilycutting whilst changing a razorblade in the previous models, where the user has to work asmall tightening screw that also may be covered in slippery fluids, are considered severe.The same can be said about the risk of involuntarily cutting when having to sharpening aknifes of the traditional design. The inventions solution minimizes the users exposure withthe sharp edge.

To break off the razorblade and razorblade holder a specialized casing may be used.

This casing not only helps breaking the knife apart at the indentation, but it is also configured to keep the sharp broken off piece safely stored. The user may throw away thebroken off pieces and casing and the broken off handle in secure batches. The differentpieces may then be sent for destruction and recycling.

One advantage with disposing the knife and picking up a new one is that the userquickly and without any risk of cutting themselves has a sharp blade to work with. The newknife may be delivered with the razorblade and razorblade holder inside the casing. The usersimply grips the handle in one hand and removes the casing with the other. Never during theknifes lifecycle does the user have to put their hands and fingers close to the sharp edge.Since changing out the entire knife is quicker than sharpening a blade or changing out arazorblade, the invention also allows for time to be saved. Another advantage with usingrazorblades contra a traditional knife blade is that razorblades are much sharper than atraditional knife blade.

The disposable knife may be equipped with a handle that is placed in an angle inrelation to the longitudinal axis of the razorblade. One advantage with this is that the usermay cut with the knife all the way down to i.e. a cutting board without letting the hand comeinto contact with the underlying cutting board. One advantage with this is that the hand andhandle doesn't become so filthy while cutting as well as it makes it easier to cut all the waythrough the tissue. Another advantage with having the handle placed in an angle is that ifthe user slips off the handle while cutting in a forward motion, the hand may slide in adownward angle instead of straight onto the sharp razorblade.

The disposable knife may be equipped with a protruding part at its proximal endbefore the indentation and extension outwards to the razorblade holder. One advantagewith the handle having a protruding part is that it may reduce the user hand from slippingoff the handle onto the sharp razorblade. To further improve the grip, the disposable knifemay be equipped with a non slip coating and with non slip grooves.

The disposable knife may be fitted with an ergonomically handle to enhance the gripeven further and to make the knife handle more user-friendly for long term work. The knifehandle may be shaped to have semicircular grooves for the fingers to fit into. One advantagewith this is that the user grip becomes better and the risk of slipping gets reduced.

The handle for the disposable knife may be made from recycle plastic. Using knifes made out of plastic makes the knife cheaper to produce and lighter and easier to handle than using i.e. wood. Using a handle that is made from disposable plastic means that thehandle does not need to be washed which saves time and also is guaranteed to be free fromany bacteria. Another advantage is that plastic may be recycled. To enhance the grip on thedisposable knife even further, the grip may be coated with a non slip cover and/or a groovedpattern.

The razorblade holder may be equipped with a measuring scale. One advantage withthis is that the user, whilst working, does not have to drop the knife and pick up a ruler formeasuring. This both speeds up the measuring process as well as it reduce the risk ofinvoluntary cutting. This because the cutting risk increases every time the user has pick upthe knife from the cutting board. The scale may use metric units on one side and imperialunits on the other side.

The disposable pathology knife and a casing may be seen as a kit, werein said casingis having an opening and a razorblade holder break off edge. The opening is configured toreceive the razorblade and the razorblade holder and wherein the razorblade holder breakoff edge is configured to break off said razorblade holder from said handle. The casing maythen keep the razorblade holder and the razorblade inside the casing. The knife and casingmay be seen as a kit for enhancing safety, cutting precision and time savings as well as its recyclability makes it environmentally friendly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSFig. 1 Shows a side view of a disposable knife.Fig. 2 Shows a top view of the disposable knife in fig. 1.

Fig. 3 Shows a top view and a side view ofthe casing used for the disposable knife.

DETAILED DESCRIPTIONThe disposable knife 10, 20 may be of different sizes. In one embodiment the disposable knife 10, 20 may be a pathology gross dissection knife. The knife 10, 20 comprisesa handle 11, a razorblade holder 12 and a razorblade 13. In one embodiment, the razorblade13 is molded fixed to the razorblade holder 12. The razorblade 13 is being made of highquality razorblade steel and the razorblade holder 12 may in one embodiment be made of recyclable plastic.

The razorblade holder 12 is in one embodiment connected to the handle 11. ln oneembodiment, the longitudinal axis of the handle 11 and the longitudinal axis oftherazorblade 13, are placed in the same plane, where as in another embodiment the axis areinstead placed in crossing planes.

The handle 11 of the invention may be of different sizes and shapes. ln oneembodiment the handle 11 is straight and in another embodiment the handle 11 has anergonomically shape. ln one embodiment the handle 11 is equipped with semi-circles 14 forthe fingers and the palm.

The handle 11 may in one embodiment be equipped in its proximal end with aprotruding part 15. This protruding part 15 helps to improve the grip on the handle 15 andto protect the fingers from sliding off the handle 15 and thereby getting accidentally cut onthe razorblade edge 13.

To improve the grip on the handle 11 even further the handle 11 may in oneembodiment be coated and/or made from a non slip plastic material. The handle 11 mayalso to improve the grip be equipped with a grooved pattern 16, 21.

The angle between the axis of the handle 11 and the axis of the razorblade 13 mayvary between 0 degrees to 180 degrees. ln one embodiment the handle 11 is set in an anglein a third direction, and in another embodiment the angle ofthe handle 11 is a combinationthereof. ln one embodiment, the razorblade holder 12 is fitted with a measuring scale 17. Thescale may in one embodiment be metric and in another embodiment the units may beimperial and in another embodiment the units may be a combination thereof. ln oneembodiment the razorblade holder 12 has metric units on one side and imperial units on theother side and in one embodiment both units may be seen on the same side. ln one embodiment, the knife 10, 20 is equipped with an indentation 18, 22 inbetween the handle 11 and the razorblade holder 12. The indentation 18, 22 may be ofdifferent sizes and depths. ln one embodiment the indentation 18, 22 may have partswithout any matter, leaving holes through the indentation 18, 22. ln one embodiment, theindentation is parallel to the longitudinal and transversal axis ofthe razorblade holder 12.

The knife 10, 20 may be supplemented by a casing 30. ln one embodiment the casing 30 is made of plastic. ln one embodiment the casing 30 is having an opening 32 and a razorblade holder break off edge 31. The razorblade break off edge 31 may in oneembodiment be located in the top end of the opening 32. The opening 32 is configured tofully receive the razorblade 13 and the razorblade holder 12. Once the razorblade 13 and therazorblade holder 12 are fully pushed inside the casing 13, the break off edge 31 is lined upwith the indentation 18, 22. To break off the razorblade 13 and razorblade holder 12, theuser may hold the casing 30 in one hand and bend the handle 11 in its transversal direction.The break off edge 31 helps to concentrate the force onto the indentation 18, 22 therebysimplifying breaking offthe handle 11. The broken of razorblade 13 and razorblade holder 12my in one embodiment be securely kept inside the casing 30. The handle 11 may also bebroken off without the use of a casing 30 or a specified break off edge 31. ln one embodiment, the handle 11 has a flat side and may i.e. be 8 mm thick. ln thisembodiment the razorblade 13 is centered with respect to the transversal axis ofthe handle11. Hence, ifthe user cuts with the knife laying on its flat side, the slices will be 4 mm thick.With this embodiment the user may cut several identically thick pieces of tissue. ln one embodiment the handle 11 is equipped with finger protectors 19. ln thisembodiment each finger has a loop that covers the finger. This gives full protection and preventing the hand from sliding off. This also eliminates the risk of dropping the knife.

Claims

CLAll\/IS

1. Disposable pathology knife (10, 20) comprising a razorblade (13), a razorblade holder (12) and a handle (11),wherein said razorblade (13) is molded fixed into said razorblade holder (12)and wherein said razorblade holder (12) is an extended part of said handle (11) and,wherein an indentation (18) is positioned between said razorblade holder (12) and said handle (11). A disposable knife (10, 20) according to claim 1, wherein the longitudinal axisof said handle (11) and the longitudinal axis of said razorblade (13) are not parallel with each other. A disposable knife (10, 20) according to claim 1, wherein the longitudinal axisof said handle (11) and the longitudinal axis of said razorblade (13) are parallel with each other. A disposable knife (10, 20) according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein saidhandle (11) has a protruding part (15) at its proximal end before extending outwardsto said razorblade holder (12), and wherein said protruding part (15) and said handle (11) is equipped with non slip grooves (16, 21). A disposable knife (10, 20) according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein said handle (11) has an ergonomically shaped body. A disposable knife (10, 20) according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein said handle (11) is made from plastic. A disposable knife (10, 20) according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein said handle (11) is coated with a non slip cover. 8. 10. 11. A disposable knife (10, 20) according to any of claims 1 to 7, wherein said handle (11) has semicircular grooves for the fingers (14). A disposable knife (10, 20) according to any of claims 1 to 8, wherein said razorblade holder (12) is equipped with a scale (17) for measuring distance. A disposable knife (10, 20) according to any of claims 1 to 9, wherein saidindentation (18, 22) is perpendicular to a longitudinal axis and a transversal axis of said razorblade holder. Kit comprising a disposable pathology knife (10, 20) according to any of claims 1-10, and a casing (30), said casing (30) having an opening (32) and a razorbladeholder break off edge (31), wherein said opening (32) is configured to receive saidrazorblade (13) and said razorblade holder (12) and wherein said razorblade holderbreak off edge (31) is configured to break off said razorblade holder (12) from saidhandle (11) and keep said razorblade holder (12) and said razorblade (13) inside said casing (30).