Hydrosurgery System for Wound Debridement

A new system enables clinicians to debride soft tissue lesions or remove contaminants from traumatic and chronic wounds quickly and efficiently.

The Versajet hydrosurgery system is in essence a Venturi-effect-based powered surgical tool designed to improve care for patients undergoing wound debridement. A high velocity stream of sterile saline jets across the operating window and into an evacuation collector. Because of the Venturi effect, a localized vacuum is created that holds and cuts targeted tissue while aspirating debris from the site. At the lowest power levels, the Versajet will function mainly as a vacuum and remove little or no tissue with each pass; at the highest power levels, the Versajet system will remove nonviable tissue very rapidly and cut all but the hardest tissues.

The system consists of five components: a sterile, disposable, handpiece; a power console that creates the fluid jet that enables the handpiece to work; a pedal switch that allows single-handed usage; a saline bag; and a waste container. During operation, sterile saline flows through low-pressure tubing to the power console, where it is pressurized.

The pressurized saline is forced under very high pressure through a tiny jet nozzle at the end of the handpiece, producing a high-velocity stream and creating a vacuum. The saline stream is directed backwards across the operating window and into the evacuation collector tube in the handpiece, which also collects any debris or contaminants created by the procedure. Finally, the saline and debris are collected in the waste container.

The Versajet is a product of Smith & Nephew (London, UK) and recently received one of the Wall Street Journal's 2006 Technology Innovation Awards.

The Venturi effect is a special case of Bernoulli's principle, in the case of fluid or air flow through a tube or pipe with a constriction in it. The fluid must speed up in the restriction, reducing its pressure and producing a partial vacuum via the Bernoulli effect. It is named after Giovanni Battista Venturi (1746–1822), an Italian physicist.



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Smith & Nephew