#HTE

This Ingenious Drill Accessory Will Save Lives and Limbs

My friend Ted recently broke an ankle and as part of the fix had pins installed in the bone. He wasn’t awake to see it, but I’m sure the orthopedic surgeon used the kind of fancy pants surgical drill that costs upwards of $20,000 and must undergo a lengthy sterilization process between uses. That’s fine, if like my friend, you live in a wealthy country with the resources to provide cutting-edge medical care.

But for people who live in isolated communities in poor or developing countries the opportunity to be treated in a modern operating room with sterile equipment might not exist. In an effort to bridge the gap, a group of engineering students (Engineers in Scrubs) at the University of British Columbia (UBC) worked with surgeons from Canada and Uganda to develop a low-cost alternative to conventional surgical drills.

Their solution was brilliant, a waterproof fabric bag with a metal collar that connects to an external chuck. A small cordless drill—the kind found in any hardware store—can be placed in the bag, connected through the collar to the chuck, and used to spin it and the surgical bit it contains. 

The open end of the bag closes like the kind of dry bag one uses while rafting or kayaking: roll it a few times, snap the clasp, and the contents will be sealed inside.

The cover of the material is soft enough for the surgeon to control the drill through the fabric. 

When the procedure is finished the drill is removed and the bag, collar, and chuck sterilized in an autoclave. The bag is impervious to moisture and pathogens so the drill itself need not be sterile—which is good because the pressurized steam in an autoclave would destroy it.

The availability of this device allows orthopedic surgeons in undeveloped countries or disaster areas to do a better job than would be possible with the hand-cranked drills or non-sterile equipment they might otherwise be forced to use. 

A UBC student spin-off company, Arbutus Medical, commercialized the product and is marketing it to surgeons (and veterinarians) around the world.