VNIT gets patent for unique medial osteotomy forceps
   Date :04-Oct-2021

Dr S N Lulay _1 &nbs
 Dr S N Lulay during the trials of forceps on cadaveric nose. Dr Rashmi Uddanwadikar and the students observing the procedure.
 
 
Principal Correspondent :
 
The unique medial osteotomy forceps created at Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT) have got the patent. This invention will help save time during nasal surgery and patient’s recovery period. Each year, thousands of people undergo nasal surgery. They choose surgery for a variety of reasons, including to improve the shape of their nose, correct a birth or injury deformity, or support a drooping nose. ENT Surgeon often serves to bolster one’s choice to seek outside help. These reasons often combine to support the decision to consult a specialist in nasal function as well as cosmetic surgery. Cosmetic/Plastic surgery for the nose (called rhinoplasty) has to do with the shape of the nose and how it balances with other features of the face. Because the nose is the most noticeable facial feature, even a slight change can improve appearance. To reshape the nose, the surgeon makes an internal or external incision and lifts the skin to remove or rearrange the bone and cartilage.
 
The skin is then sutured or stitched to close the incision over the modified bone and cartilage. Rhinoplasty is a surgery in which surgeon breaks the walls of the nose which is pyramidal in structure. When the side wall of this structure is broken, it is known as lateral osteotomy. If apart from side walls, the center or the mid line (top edge of the pyramid) is cut, the kind of surgery is known as medial osteotomy. A patent is granted to Dr Rashmi Uddanwadiker, Associate Professor from Department of Mechanical Engineering, VNIT along with Dr Subhash Lulay, ENT Surgeon and team of UG students of the department Ekta Dhole and M Keerthana. The innovative medial osteotomy forceps for the nose surgery facilitates to cut the nasal bone efficiently. The major obstacle to this surgery in the conventional sense has been the lack of working space inside the nose. The structure is so shaped that there is ‘literally no width’ to accommodate the instruments and this makes the surgery difficult and tedious process.
 
The surgery time increases owing to lack of working space, and the cutting of the bone by chisel hammer in the conventional routine causes trauma. Thus, recuperation time goes up. In the context of the India and the 3rd world countries, countless people with issues of aesthetics suffer with low confidence. Their public performance, social and communications skills are also hampered due to poor aesthetic appearance. Surgeons performing these medial osteotomies need high level of skill to cut the bone using conventional hammer and osteotomes. Thus medial osteotomy forceps will help them overcome large number of challenges. With the ease of surgery, more people will have access to cosmetic surgeries. The surgery helps in widening an overly narrow nose or narrowing a very wide nose. They are often used to correct the deviated nose or to narrow the wide nose without a hump. The forceps are unique and innovative.The medial osteotomy forceps have small cutting edge and very narrow opening due to the space constraint inside the nose.