8 Tips to Keep Surgical Scissors Sharp

Keeping your fine surgical scissors sharp is paramount for ensuring clean, efficient cuts. The precision of surgical cuts is crucial to the quick recovery of your subject and for minimizing the chance of infections. These tips will help keep your surgical scissors sharp and ensure a longer life for your instruments.

Affordable Precision: Why WPI’s Economy Disposable Instruments Belong in Every Lab

When every minute counts in the lab, having clean, ready-to-use instruments can make all the difference. That’s why WPI’s Economy Disposable Instruments line is designed for convenience, affordability, and consistency… so researchers and educators can focus on the work that matters most.

What are the Benefits of TEER?

Transepithelial Electrical Resistance (TEER) is a widely used technique in the life sciences fields and therapeutic development. It measures the electrical resistance across a cell monolayer, providing information about the integrity and functionality of epithelial barriers. TEER has proven to be a valuable tool in various fields, including drug absorption studies, tissue engineering, and disease modeling. This article aims to explore the benefits of TEER and its applications in different research areas.

Tips for Choosing the Right Pair of Lab Scissors

EVOM™ Auto High Throughput (HTS) Transepithiel Electrical Resistance (TEER) Measurement System with 24 and 96 transwell capability can switch between different 24 and 96 HTS well plates by using matching electrode arrays and plate positioners. Here we demonstrate how to switch to a 24 transwell plate after using a 96 transwell plate. 

Introduction Hemostatic Forceps & Their Use in Labs

Hemostatic forceps, also called ring forceps or hemostats, are common surgical instruments used in medical, veterinary, and laboratory settings to control bleeding during procedures. Hemostats are used to clamp blood vessels, tissues, or other small structures, effectively minimizing blood flow during surgical procedures. Hemostats prevent excessive bleeding for the subject and offer a clear view of the surgical site for the operator. Here’s a brief introduction to the features and uses of hemostatic forceps in a laboratory setting.

A Brief Introduction to Forceps for Laboratories

Laboratory forceps are surgical instruments that come in a variety of types. Here’s a brief overview to help you choose a set of forceps for your application. Surgical forceps can be divided into two broad categories, thumb forceps (also called tweezers) and hemostatic forceps. Tweezers can be further divided into dressing forceps and tissue forceps.

Custom Surgical Instrument Kits Promote Efficiency & Savings

Building a custom surgical instrument kit gives you the flexibility, precision, and control you need to advance medical knowledge, improve patient outcomes, and push the boundaries of surgical science.

The History & Evolution of Surgical Forceps

Surgical forceps have been used in various forms from ancient times and have evolved into a indispensable instrument for modern surgeries. Forceps are surgical instruments for the practice of medicine which are used for grasping, holding, and manipulating tissues and objects during surgical procedures.

Best Practices for Sterilizing Laboratory Forceps

When it comes to sterilizing lab forceps, it is crucial to follow proper protocols to maintain a sterile environment and prevent cross-contamination. Like other surgical instruments, laboratory forceps may be sterilized by autoclaving, dry heat, or a chemical sterilant. However, forceps are uniquely designed for many specific functions, and a few pointers here can ensure you get the best results.

NOTE: Always follow the manufacturer's instructions and best practices to ensure effective sterilization and maintenance of your lab forceps.

Understanding the Multiple Uses of Hemostatic Forceps

Hemostatic forceps, hemostats, are used primarily to control bleeding during surgical procedures, and they are also used for a variety of other applications. Most hemostatic forceps have ring handles and a ratchet-style, locking mechanism to adjust the tension on the forceps and to keep the jaws clamped in place, maintaining constant pressure on the tissue or blood vessel being occluded. They also have jaws with interlocking serrations or teeth for a secure grip on tissues. The tips of hemostats are often narrow and delicate, allowing for precise manipulation of tissues and vessels. They vary in size, tip shape, type of metal, and function. Here are some applications for which hemostatic forceps are uniquely designed.

How to Care for Your Surgical Instruments

This article shows you how to appropriately care for your surgical insturments to ensure long lasting, highly functioning tools for your application.

A Quick Guide on the Common Uses for Lab Forceps

One of the most common surgical instruments in a laboratory is lab forceps or tweezers. Thumb forceps used in a lab come in various lengths, and the tips can be straight, curved, angled, or angled on the side. They can be made of stainless steel, German steel, Dumoxel, Dumastar, or titanium. They can have smooth tips, serrated tips, or teeth. They are even available with tungsten carbide inserts. Each style has its own purpose.

The Different Surgical Scissors for Every Application

In a life science laboratory, quality surgical scissors are indispensable for dissection, suturing, small animal surgeries, tissue preparation, and more. The variety of surgical scissors can be overwhelming. To help you choose which surgical scissors are right for your application, let’s look at some of our most popular ring handled surgical scissors and their intended uses.

Explore the Difference Between Tissue and Dressing Forceps

Surgical forceps or surgical tweezers are common surgical instruments, but there's a large variety of tweezers to choose from. In general forceps can be grouped as thumb forceps (frequently called surgical tweezers, gripping forceps, non-locking forceps or pinning forceps) or ring forceps (also called hemostats, hemostatic forceps and locking forceps).  

VIDEO: Quick Reference for Sterilization of Surgical Instruments

After a good cleaning and disinfection, your surgical instruments may be sterilized using a variety of methods. The chart below shows two common methods, autoclaving and cold sterilization. Sterilization destroys all microbial life. Some chemical sterilants can be used as high level disinfectants (HLD) when used for shorter exposure periods.

Know your Scissors

WPI offers a variety of scissors which are widely used in healthcare units, hospitals and laboratories. Most scissors have ring handles. 

Sapphire Blades Are Durable and Precise Surgical Knives

Sapphire Blades are a precise and durable solution for use in microsurgery, dissection, and related applications.

VIDEO: WPI's Top 5 Needle Holders

Needle holders, also known as a needle drivers. They are used in wound closure, ligation, reanastomosis and other surgical procedures which require suturing. The needle is usually held in position by a clamp mechanism, which allows the operator to manipulate the needle through various tissues. The jaws are generally textured and short in comparison to the shank to retain a solid grasp on the needle.

VIDEO: Caring for Your Surgical Instrument Investment: Sterilization

In this video, you get some practical tips on sterilizing your surgical instruments and using an autoclave. This video is the fourth in a series of four to discuss some best practices in caring for your surgical instrument investment. 

VIDEO: Caring For Your Surgical Instrument Investment: Ultrasonic Cleaning

In this video, you can see how to mechanically clean surgical instruments using an ultrasonic cleaner. This video is loaded with tips. This video is the third in a series of four to discuss some best practices in caring for your surgical instrument investment.

VIDEO: Caring for Your Surgical Instrument Investment: Manual Cleaning

In this video, you can see how to manually clean surgical instruments. It is loaded with tips. This video is the second in a series of four to discuss some best practices in caring for your surgical instrument investment. 

VIDEO: Caring for Your Surgical Instrument Investment: Introduction

What's the difference between cleaning, disinfecting and sterilizing? Let's take a look. This is the first in a series of four videos to discuss some best practices in caring for your surgical instrument investment.

VIDEO: Guide for Ultrasonic Cleaning of Surgical Instruments

Ultrasonic cleaning is the most effective cleaning method for maintaining your surgical instruments, because of its cavitation. Vibrating sound waves create micron-size bubbles in solution that grow as the pressure in the unit changes.

Guide for Manually Cleaning Surgical Instruments

The proper care and handling of surgical instruments is the simplest way to protect your investment and add years to the life of your instruments. Here is a handy infographics showing the steps for proper surgical instrument cleaning.