Design and validation of a device to measure the cutting edge profile of osteotomes

Abstract

The cutting capacity of a cutting instrument is normally defined as its sharpness, which defines the ability of the cutting edge to cut the target material. Many factors therefore affect the ability of a blade to cut, including the target material, the manufacturing process, and the cutting forces associated with cutting technique employed (Kalder S., 1997). In this study of techniques for measurement of the cutting edge profile various methods were used to measure blade profiles and found that no one method of measurement was capable of quantifying all the geometric parameters of the cutting edge of the blade. SUB3 (Sharpness of Unserrated Blades for Biomaterials and Biocomposites) is a research project focusing on the specification of sharpness measurement for surgical blades. A component of the work of the SUB3 project is the design and build of a prototype device for blade profile measurement. This project contributes a device capable of measuring the profile and wedge angle of the cutting flanks of a surgical osteotome. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the measurement of sharpness with particular relevance to non-contact measurement of the geometric parameters of the surfaces of the cutting instrument. All relevant current methods of profile measurement were investigated to establish a suitable method for the measurement of the geometric properties of a surgical osteotome using legacy technology, and also to establish if it could be developed using existing components of measurement systems. If the technology does not exist it is proposed to design and build a working prototype non-contact profile measurement device capable of measuring the wedge angle of a surgical osteotome.