The Diamond-like Disposable

Get the best of both worlds — the performance of a diamond blade with all the advantages of single-use products.

The BD Atomic Edge technology is changing the way surgeons think about single-use blades. In the past, using steel blades meant making a major compromise in the quality that surgeons achieve with diamond blades. The answer was silicon.

The BD Atomic Edge silicon slit and limbal relaxing incision (LRI) blades nearly match the sharpness of diamond blades, but single-use disposability relieves the burden of maintenance and, combined with exceptional safety features, virtually eliminates the risk of sharps injuries. Protection, performance and simplicity are all yours.

Pioneering sharpness

Precise, consistent ophthalmic incisions begin with a sharp blade. The BD Atomic Edge has an edge radius of 40 nm, compared to about 20 nm for diamond blades and about 600 nm for steel blades. The single-use silicon blade nearly matches diamond sharpness, leaving steel single-use blades far behind.

The use of silicon for ophthalmic blades makes sense. Diamond and silicon are both Group IV elements, neighbors on the periodic table with the same diamond-cubic crystalline structure. Both blades feature sheet-cut manufacturing — no grinding, which can be an issue with metal blades.

"Silicon gives us the consistent sharpness of a diamond blade, with all of the advantages associated with single-use," says Randall J. Olson, MD, Professor and Chair of Ophthalmology and Director of the John A. Moran Eye Center, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City. "There is a slight difference between the silicon blade and a diamond blade with just a little tactile feedback. The blade is incredible."

Single-use blades eliminate the need for off-site re-sharpening and maintenance, simplify sharps administration, and limit staff exposure to sharps.

Top performance

Smooth, precise incisions are no longer limited to diamond blades. In addition to the sharpness of the BD Atomic Edge, the blade has the smoothest nondiamond surface. Incisions are clean, with little resistance. And in contrast to metal blades, the nonsharpened paralleled sides of the silicon slit blade pose less potential for side-cutting or wound enlargement.

"As mentioned, the slit blade has a bit of tactile feedback, which I like. I can feel the incision. It's smoother for steel users and easier to use than diamond," Dr. Olson explains. "Some users have reported that when they use the Atomic Edge slit blade, the wound seal was significantly better because the slight serration of the edge promotes faster healing. Wound healing is such a significant issue, so we need to see more data on this potential added advantage."

The blade's shape also encourages the desired outcomes. Shaped to give surgeons maximum control over their incisions, the BD Atomic Edge slit blade has a tip angle that helps surgeons achieve the right depth of penetration and resist penetrating into the anterior chamber. The BD Atomic Edge's double bevel blade promotes a vertical penetration plane, compared to single-bevel blades that are more likely to shift.

Single-use benefits

With BD Atomic Edge technology, BD has developed both slit and LRI knives.

To get the smooth, sharp, precise incisions of a diamond blade, many surgeons have made the necessary tradeoff of single-use advantages. Now they can have the best of both worlds.

Single-use blades eliminate the need for off-site resharpening and maintenance, simplify sharps administration, and limit staff exposure to sharps. The cost of BD Atomic Edge blades compares favorably to diamond blades and their maintenance costs.

"People are wedded to the fact that use of the diamond blade brings down the cost per use," according to Dr. Olson. "But with single-use blades, there's no autoclaving, no preparation, no sharpening when a blade gets dinged, no renting a backup — no costs to keep the blade functioning. There's just the cost of the blade. Of course, silicon blades are more expensive than steel, but the overall cost per blade drops as the quantity purchased increases."

Dr. Olson also raises the potential impact of disease on practices that use diamond blades.

"Some infectious diseases are nearly impossible to remove from a blade in an autoclave, which has resulted in a push for single-use blades. In some countries, surgeons aren't permitted to use instruments more than once in the eye," he says, adding that the non-autoclavable handle of the BD Atomic Edge is further discouragement to reusing the blade. "The financial risk is already present. If the CDC finds that a patient has Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), we must destroy all of our instruments. Other prion diseases may transmit to humans as well. Single-use instruments reduce the potential for patient infection, and ultimately, financial loss."

Fewer sharps injuries

Best practices and education aren't enough to eliminate the risk of sharps injuries. Surgeons and their staff can contract hepatitis C, HIV, or CJD during surgery or blade maintenance. Single-use eliminates the maintenance risk, and the BD Atomic Edge blade incorporates industry-leading safety features, including an intuitive safety shield that surgeons remove with their thumb. The surgeon is the only person who ever needs to handle the instrument with the blade exposed.

"The safely shield is reason alone to switch," Dr. Olson says. "Sharps injuries are an ongoing major problem. It might occur in a practice every 3 or 4 years. With super-sharp blades, it's hard to be completely safe, so the best approach is to limit the blade's exposure. With the BD Atomic Edge, a technician passes me a closed instrument. I just move the shield with a quick movement of my thumb, and then return it when I'm done. The technician doesn't face any risk of sharps injury from staff passing the blade back and forth."

Secure future

You no longer have to choose between a sharp blade and a single-use blade. The next generation of single-use blades is here, in a revolutionary, diamond-like material. The landscape of ophthalmic surgery is changing, offering the benefits of first-rate performance and safety.

"We can have our cake and eat it too," Dr. Olson says. "It takes a while for cutting-edge technology to reach general utilization, but I know people who've already switched to using the BD Atomic Edge as their primary blade. I can easily see a future where silicon single-use blades are the standard of care."

Helping all people live healthy lives