US2428018A - Dermatome - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 30, 1947.

.C. L. EIDAM DERMATOME' Filed June 27, 1946 Patented Sept. 30, 1947 UNITED STATES PATE-NT OFFICE Y aies-,oie

DERMATOME Earl Louis Edam, Lawrence, Mass. Application June- 27, 1945, Serial No.4 6796.3'1f

4 Claims;

amended April 30,

The invention described herein may be manu.-

iactured and used by or for the. Government. for

governmental purposes: without payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to an. .in-struinent.v for cutting Very thin sections of human skin for skin grafting or plastic surgery.

Atv the present time, several types of dermatomes areknown. One of the more common; is-the type disclosed in U. S. Letters Patent 2,288,709, granted July 7, 1942, to G. J. Hood, which; comprises a body member having a convex shaped outer surface coatedV with an adhesive for temporarily retaining the skin to be .cut,. in posi.- tion, so that a cutting blade mounted for rotation and reciprocation relative to the convex surface can separate the skin fromA the. body of. the patient.

Another type of dermatome is disclosed in U. Letters Patent. 1,736,246, granted November 19, 1929, to V. P. Blair, and contemplates theuse yof a suction box having an open bottom which is placed on the skin to b e grafted.` A suction is produced within the box by means of a suitable vacuum machine connected to the box.. The knife used to sever the skin is reciprocally mountedy to one side thereof in suitable spaced relation therewith. Thus, as the knife is operated, it severs the skin raised or displayed by the suction produced in the box. c p

Likewise, a dermatome is disclosedr in U. S. Letters Patent 1,935,605-, granted November 2'1, 1933, to J, B. Altruda, comprising a mechanism, which with thev exception of the blade and manner of mounting it, is similar to the mechanism em pl'oyed in certain hair clipping devices. It has a reciprocating blade mounted in spaced relation with a motor drivenv roller which moves ahead of said: blad-e and forces the skin into position for severance by the blade.

It has, however, been: found present, no dermatome thin. skin sectionsv whi throughout.

that there are; at s capable of removing very ch. will be entirely uniform This is due primarily to the tact that none of the dermatomes can accurately position and. hold. the skin. to be cut in. the. desired relationship with the cutting blade.. With the use ofthe instrument of this invention,. the skin. oi the person from whom the graft isr to be taken is automatically drawn into proper relation toJ the cutting blade, and. the width and thickness. of: the skin section to be removed are easily adjusted 'so thatit. is possibleto remove a very thin skin section, as thi-n as 0.006 inc-h in thickness. This section will be entirely uni-form. With this instru- 2 ment, it is possible for the first time to. remove only a portion of the growth layer of the' skin of predetermined thickness and thus/leave a portion of the growth layer of skin livingon the body of the person in the: area from which the graft is removed. The-portion of ther growth layer left in the area fromfwhich the graft' is removed will heal without any scar, and as it is" healed, a subsequent graft. may'be taken from the same area of the persons skin'. This wasnot possible prior to the development of this instrument.` Since, with the use of instruments heretofore employed, which are incapable of removing suchthi-n layers of skin with uniformity, thel entire growth layer of' skin is necessarily `retrieved in the areai-rom which the graft is taken. -v

It is therefore anl object of this invention to prov-ide a dermatome capablen of removing very thin sections of the growth layer of skin of a pers-on so as to leave no scar after healing.

It is a further. object of this invention toaprovide a dermatome having a motor operatedl reciprocatingcutting blade and vmeans associated with this instrument for automatically drawing the skin ofthe person from whom the gra-ft, is being taken into: certain predetermined relation to.f the cutting blade.

It is a. still further object of this invention to provide a dermatome capableV of cutting varying widths of skin by reason of a simple adjusting mechanism provided on said dermatome.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide on a dermatomey a simple-adjusting mechanism for varying the kthickness of skin outv by the reciprocating blade of theinstrument.

It is a, still further object oi this invention: t'o provide on a. derni-atome an adjustable,V evacuated, rotating. mem-ber for 'drawing the skin of the person from@ whom the graft is tol be taken into a. predetermined relation with a motor operated reciprocating cutting blademounted thereon.`

rLhese and other objects of my invention wil-libecome.v apparent from the.y following. detailed de'- seriptiorr. taken in. conjunction with the accom;- panying drawing. in which:

Fig. 1 isv a. perspective view of the dermatome.

Fig. 2- is a.. side view takenalong. line 2'-2 of Referring to. Fig. 1,. it will be seen that the dermatome comprises av main. frame tA having as;- sociated therewith blade means; consisting of' a suitable: blade holder 't' and a cutting blade 9. Blade hoi-der 'I with. ther cutting. blade' 9' suitably scoured thereto is: adapted; forreciprocation transversely of the frame 5. For reciprocating the and reciprocating blade holder 1 and blade 9 transversely of frame 5.

Adjustable means are provided for drawing the V skin of the person from whom the graft is to be taken into a certain predetermined relationshipwith cutting blade 9. This means comprises a yoke generally indicated as at 2,4, pivotally supported on brackets 29 by pivot members 30. One arm 25 of yoke 24 is welded in place as at 26, while the other arm 21 is releasably heldin place by screw 28. Brackets 29 are rigidly secured to the frame 5. A hollow cylindrical casing'3 I mounted at the outer end of the yoke 24 between arms 25 and 21, is provided with a plurality of selector openings 33 on the underside of the casing 3l directed downwardly towards frame and cutting-blade 9. The interior of casing 3I communicates with a connector 34 to which is attached a flexible vacuum line 35 (shown in phantom). The vacuum line 35 is attached to a vacuum pump (not shown) capable of applyingsuicient vacuum within casing 3I to hold the skin Vof a person against a perforated cylinder 31 which is rotatably mounted on the casing 3l. Within casing 3I a plunger or separating member 39is provided which is associated with a screw 4I for the adjustment of member 39 axially within cyl- Vinder casing 3I. The adjustment of the member 39 within the casing 3| determines through what portion of the perforated cylinder 31`the vacuum created in easing 3I will be effective, in order to draw the skin of the person against the periphery of perforated cylinder 31.

An adjusting screw 43 is provided for adjusting f thev position of the perforated roller 31 with respect to the cutting blade 9. The adjusting screw 43 is threaded into frame 5 and a spring 45 encircles it and is confined under compression between the cap of the screw 43 and frame 5. The upper end of spring 45 abuts the arm 44 which is welded to the yoke 24 so as to tend to lift up the portion thereof with which the spring 45 is associated and thereby tend to urge the perforated roller 31 downwardly towards the cutting blade.

' Removable handles 41 and 49 interconnected by a spring 5| and provided with channels or grooves 53 within which opposite edges of the frame 5 t when the handles 41 and 49 are applied, are provided to allow easier handling and manipulation of the dermatone.

In operation, the instrument is manipulated so that the underside of the frame 5 engages theA skin of the person in the area from which the' graft is to be taken. The perforated roller 31 is mounted in a position slightly forwardly of the 'cutting edge of the blade 9, having reference to the direction in which the instrument is moved during the cutting operation. With the blade 9 reciprocating transversely of the frame 5 and the interior of the casing 3l leftwardly of the member 39 being evacuated through the vacuum line 35, the skin will be drawn against the perforated cylinder 31 in an area dened by the openings 33 in the casing 3l leftwardly of member 39. Thus the width of skin which is drawn into engagement with the perforated cylinder 31 will be determined by the position of the member 39 within the casing 3I, so adjusted by means of the screw 4I. The thickness of the skin section to be removed will be determined by the adjustment of the screw 43. Thus, the farther the perforated cylinder 31 is moved upwardly relative to the cutting blade 9, the thicker will be the skin section to be out. As the instrument is moved over the area of skin from which the graft is to be taken, the perforated cylinder 31 will rotate and a fresh area of skin will constantly be drawn-into engagement with the perforated cylinder 31 in the area thereof defined by the openings 33 in the casing 3|, the skin being thus held in predetermined relation to the blade 9.

It will therefore be seen that I have provided a dermatome which is capable of removing only a portion ofthe growth layer of skin of predetermined thickness and which is capable of removing varying widths of said skin.

While I have described one particular embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not wish to be restricted thereto and that I intend to cover all modifications thereof which would be apparent to one skilled in the art and which come within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a dermatome for removing a predetermined thickness of skin, a frame, a roller rotatably mounted onrthe frame adapted to contact the skin to be removed, said roller having the periphery thereof permeable to the flow of air therethrough, means internal of the roller for producing a subatmospheric pressure only in that portion of the roller in Contact with the skin, whereby the skin is supported in rm contact with the roller, and cutting means mounted on the frame and movable in a plane parallel to the axis of the roller. Y

2. In a dermatome for removing a predetermined thickness of skin, a frame, a roller rotatably mounted on the frame adapted to contact the skin to be removed, said roller having the periphery thereof perforated, means positioned internally of the roller having port means therein in register with the said perforations only in the Zone in contact with the skin, means for producing a subatmospheric pressure at said port means, whereby the skin is supported in firm contact with the roller, and cutting means mounted on the frame and movable in a plane parallel to the axis of the roller.

3. In a dermatome for removing a predetermined thickness of skin, a frame, a roller rotatably mounted on the frame, said roller having the periphery thereof perforated, means positioned internally of the roller having spaced ports therein in register with the said perforations only in the zone thereof in contact with the skin, means for producing a subatmospheric pressure at said transversely adjustable separating means Within said cylindrical casing adapted to separate any desired number of said ports from said means for producing subatmospherie pressure, and thereby Vary the Width of said casing under subatmospherio pressure whereby only the skin beneath the portion of saidroller still under subatmospherie pressure is supported in rm Contact with said roller, cutting means mounted on said frame and movable in a plane parallel to the axis of the roller.

CARL LOUIS EIDAM.

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