CauteryGuard

Cautery Guard

By:Jacqueline Ray

In approximately 80% of current surgeries, a electrocautery device is used to remove unwanted tissue from a patient.  It may also be used to stop bleeding.  The device heats up to an impressive 1200 degrees at just the press of a button.  This extreme temperature is a danger for the doctors and nurses performing the surgery.  Approximately 80% of the doctors who were interviewed experienced some form of workforce injury from being burned by the electrocautery equipment.

Students in the Biomedical Engineering department at the Georgia Institute of Technology observed the need and took advantage of their school resources to develop a solution.  They developed a cap to be put on the existing electrocautery device.  The cap is approximately the size of a small flashlight, and like a flashlight, it works on batteries AA batteries.

The Cautery Guard was engineered to affordable to all and safe to use in an operating room.  Hopefully, their design will serve to protect many doctors and patients from burns and other injuries.