Research and development of anti-maceration laparoscopic surgical cotton swabs

Abstract

Introduction

Although laparoscopic cotton swabs have been used in procedures such as blunt tissue dissection and elevation of organs, fluid maceration is widely known to reduce their original performance. Thus, we developed an anti-maceration laparoscopic surgical cotton swab that is expected to solve this problem by coating the cotton swab with water-resistant resin. This study aimed to determine whether anti-maceration cotton swabs perform better than conventional products.

Material and methods

Fine surface shape analysis of cotton swabs was performed using microfocus X-ray computed tomography, and changes due to fluid absorption of the anti-maceration cotton swabs and pre-existing products were quantitatively compared. As indices, the degree of expansion by maceration and SMD (surface roughness index of the fiber industry showing the size of irregularities on the surface) were evaluated.

Results

The degree of expansion was lower in anti-maceration swabs than in conventional products. Maceration reduced SMD in existing products, whereas the SMD in anti-maceration cotton swabs did not change.

Conclusions

Anti-maceration cotton swabs have a superior performance over conventional products.

Keywords:

• Medical device
• cotton swab
• research and development
• microfocus CT scan
• non-destructive inspection
• performance evaluation
• maceration

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the 20th Needlescopic Surgery Meeting for giving us the opportunity to provide an interim presentation on this research.

Declaration of interest

This research was conducted through a joint research and development project between Sanyo Co., LTD. and Osaka University, with no benefits transferred. Shota Fujii, Kazutaka Akai, and Tomoya Ueda work for Sanyo Co., LTD. All the other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [Kiyokazu Nakajima], upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.