A New Neurosurgical Instrument: A Micro-Vibrato-Dissector

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: We developed an instrument (a dissector tool with microvibrating system) to make make brain tissue dissection easy and safe. Method: We used this instrument and conventional technique to dissect 18 fresh cadaver sheep brains (9 of them were dissected by the vibrating-dissection technique and the remaining 9 with a conventional dissector). Dissection and separation were graded as poor, moderate and good. A poor grade was scored as 1, moderate as 2, and good as 3. RESULTS: The mean dissection score was 2.55 +/- 0.52 in the vibrato-dissection technique and 1.55 +/- 0.52 in the conventional technique. The vibrato-dissection technique was superior to the conventional technique for dissection and separation of brain tissue in fresh cadaver sheep brain. The differences between these two groups were statistically significant. CONCLUSION: We developed a new instrument to dissect brain tissue during brain surgery. We used this instrument experimentally to dissect and separate brain tissue in cadaver sheep brains. We found that this is superior to conventional dissection and separation techniques. Our recommendation is to use this instrument to dissect and separate diffuse brain tumours in microsurgical operations.