BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Few standardized testing procedures exist for instruments intended for Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery. These testing procedures are critical for evaluating surgical skills and surgical instruments to ensure sufficient quality. This need is widely recognized by endoscopic surgeons as a major hurdle for the advancement of Natural Orifice Translumenal En...

For ease of use and to aid precision, left-handed instruments are invaluable to the left-handed surgeon. Although they exist, they are not available in many surgical centres. As a result, most operating theatre staff (including many left-handers) have little knowledge of their value or even application. With specific reference to cardiac surgery, this article addresses the ways in which they di...

The Northwest Society for Classical Studies (NWCS) was honored and privileged to have Professor Larry Bliquez speak on one of his favorite topics, the surgical instruments found in classical archeological sites and described in classical literature. Professor Bliquez is a distinguished and popular University of Washington professor, trained in classical (Latin and Greek) philology, winner of th...

In radiosurgery, a moving beam of radiation acts as an ablative surgical instrument. Conventional systems for radiosurgery use a cylindrical radiation beam of fixed cross section. The radiation source can be moved only along simple, standardized paths. A new radiosurgical system based on a six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm has been developed to overcome limitations of conventional systems. We a...

Socio-technical or strategic approach to renewable energy deployment all suggests that the uptake of renewable energy technology such as solar photovoltaic is as much a social issue as a technical issue. Among social issues, one most direct and immediate component is the cost of the renewable energy technology. Because renewable electricity provides no new functionality—a clean electron does th...

Educational model for higher education has shown a drift from traditional classroom to technology-driven models that merge classroom teaching with web-based learning management systems (LMS) such as Moodle and CLEW. Every teaching model has a set of supervised (e.g. quizzes) and/or unsupervised (e.g. assignments) instruments that are used to evaluate the effectiveness of learning. The challenge...

Since the introduction of engine-driven nickel-titanium (NiTi) instruments, attempts have been made to minimize or eliminate their inherent defects, increase their surface hardness/flexibility and also improve their resistance to cyclic fatigue and cutting efficiency. The various strategies of enhancing instrument surface include ion implantation, thermal nitridation, cryogenic treatment and el...

Transnasal endoscopic orbital decompression is a viable alternative for external orbital decompression. Today, it can be performed due to the great development of endoscopic technology and specific endoscopic surgical instruments. It requires strong anatomic knowledge and skilled hands. We present our experience with endoscopic orbital decompression focusing on the surgical technique used in ou...

sold by surgical instrument makers, which have constantly come prominently to my notice daring the performnace of operations on the eye, and which, after considerable experience of the same, have forced me to try and effect a remedy for them. It is with that object in view, that I have devised an instrument, which I venture to bring before the notice of the profession, as having, in my humble o...