What is a 23 blade used for?

23 Sterile Surgical Blade is a “leaf-shaped” blade sharpened along its leading edge, used for making long incisions such as an upper midline incision of the abdomen during the repair of a perforated gastric ulcer.

How sharp is an obsidian scalpel?

Since obsidian will fracture down to a single atom, it is claimed to have a cutting edge five hundred times sharper than the sharpest steel blade, and under a high magnification microscope an obsidian blade still appears smooth, whereas a steel blade has a saw like edge.

What is the difference in scalpel sizes?

Surgical blade handles come in different versions ranging from #3 to #9. The #3 and #4 have a long, flat handle. The #5, #6, and #8 blade handles have a wider base. The #7 is shaped much like a writing pen-slender and rounded at the front and flat at the back.

What are the different types of scalpels?

Surgical scalpels

Blade No. Compatible Handles Uses
No. D/15 B3, 3, 3 Graduated, 3 Long, 5, 7, 9
No. 16 B3, 3, 3 Graduated, 3 Long, 5, 7, 9 For cutting stencils, scoring and etching
No. 17 B3, 3, 3 Graduated, 3 Long, 5, 7, 9 For narrow cuts
No. 18 4, 4 Graduated, 4 Long, 6 For deep cuts and scraping

What is a 10 blade used for?

The number 10 blade has a large curved cutting edge is one of the more traditional blade shapes and is used for making large incisions and cutting soft tissue. The number 11 blade is an elongated, triangular blade sharpened along the hypotenuse edge.

What is a 12 blade used for?

It is sometimes utilised as a suture cutter but also for arteriotomies (surgical incision of an artery), parotid surgeries (facial salivary glands), mucosal cuts on a septoplasty (repair of nasal septum) and during cleft palate procedures, ureterolithotomies (calculus removal by incision of the ureter) and …

What do the numbers mean on scalpels?

Surgical blades, or scalpels, are used for cutting skin and tissue during surgical procedures. There are different types of blades specific to the type of procedure. Surgical blades vary by size and shape. The number of the blade indicates the blade size and shape.

What is a 15 blade scalpel used for?

15 blade has a small curved cutting edge and is the most popular blade shape ideal for making short and precise incisions. It is utilised in a variety of surgical procedures including the excision of a skin lesion or recurrent sebaceous cyst and for opening coronary arteries.

What is the sharpest scalpel blade?

Obsidian – a type of volcanic glass – can produce cutting edges many times finer than even the best steel scalpels. At 30 angstroms – a unit of measurement equal to one hundred millionth of a centimeter – an obsidian scalpel can rival diamond in the fineness of its edge.

What is a 25 blade used for?

Single use Surgical Grade Stainless Steel Blade used for cutting gingival tissue and making surgical incisions that are sold sterile in a box of 100 blades.

What are the most common scalpel blade sizes?

#3 and #4 (far right) scalpel handles are used most frequently with #3 being used more often than #4. The #4 handle is larger than the #3 and has a larger fitment for large blades such as #20. The #7 handle (long and skinny) is used frequently for more delicate incisions.

How short does a 7FC blade cut?

Surgical Blades

Blade Size Cut
7 1/8″
7F/7FC 1/8″
5 1/4″
5F/5FC 1/4″

Why dont we use obsidian blades?

But there has been little academic research into the efficacy of obsidian blades compared with steel scalpels, and they do have disadvantages: Obsidian scalpels are not Food and Drug Administration-approved, and they are extremely brittle and prone to breaking if lateral forces are applied, meaning they are unlikely to …

What is the difference between a 7 and 7FC blade?

A commonly asked question is what does the FC stand for on a professional dog clipper blade such as Oster 7F or Andis 7FC. When a blade such as a size 7 doesn’t have an F behind the number, this is referred to as a skip tooth blade where every other tooth on the comb is shorter.