Scalpel Blade Guard

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Background According to the CDC, between 600,000 and 800,000 sharps injuries are incurred by healthcare workers annually.  46% of sharps injuries happen to nurses, followed by physicians (12%). 21% occur in surgery.  Most are located on the thumb or index finger of the non-dominate hand.  39% of all surgical scalpel injuries are inflicted by the user on an assistant.  An estimated 39 occupational HIV infections, 400 HBV infections and 1,000 or more HCV infections occur per year due to sharps injuries. The cost of a non-infecting sharps injury runs between $500 and $3000 each simply due to reporting, medical testing, precautionary treatments and lost work hours, with the social and psychological costs being immeasurable.  Most scalpel injuries occur during assembly and disassembly of sharps, during transfer between personnel, during the use of the scalpel (if fingers are used as a backstop or guide during surgery) and during disposal of scalpels.   Currently available safety devices do not eliminate the exposure of the fingers to the sharp edge of the blade during removal and mounting of the blade.  There is also a need for more adequate safeguards to prevent injuries during the transfer of scalpels during surgery between personnel.    A leading vascular surgeon at New York University•s School of Medicine and an experienced device design consultant have collaborated to produce a scalpel blade guard to address the blade injury problems.  Design specifications for the device included, low cost manufacturing, single and/or multiple uses, ergonomic, intuitive, and compatible with standard blades and handles. The end result is a device that provides each blade size and shape with its own efficient and compact guard. Minimal finger movement exposes or protects the blade. The guard can also be rotated completely out of the way or defeated if necessary. The design includes a flip down locking mechanism to ensure safe removal and disposal of blades.   The scalpel blade guard meets criteria issued in the November 1999 OSHA Directive clarifying its 1992 Blood borne Pathogens Standard, advocating the use of sharps devices engineered to reduce the risk of exposure. This includes design features such as barrier creation, encapsulation, withdrawal or other physical attributes that reduce the risk of incident exposure. A prototype is available for viewing at NYU’s Industrial Liaison/Technology Transfer. Applications This scalpel blade guard system can be used in operating rooms, physicians rooms, mortuaries, scientific laboratories, catheter laboratories, pathology, dialysis, emergency rooms, forensic, dental, colleges and universities, design studios.