Medical marvels that came straight from your kitchen drawer!

The inspiration for medical breakthroughs comes from many sources — and that includes things found in and around the kitchen.

Only last month came news of a gadget to help against deadly sepsis infections based on, of all things, a sieve.

Blood is pumped through the sepsis sieve, which filters it and uses magnetic particles to stick to bacteria and other particles that cause sepsis. The cleaned blood is then returned to the patient.

But this isn’t the only kitchen-inspired medical aid, as we reveal . . .

CORKSCREW

NO KITCHEN is without these, and nor are most operating theatres.

corkscrew devices are used to remove bone in a hip replacement operation. The hip is a ball-and- socket joint and during surgery the damaged ball — also known as the femoral head — is replaced with a metal ball that is put into the hollow centre of the femur, or thighbone.

The corkscrew-like device enables the surgeon to get a firm grip on the femoral head to remove it.

‘A corkscrew is also used in fractures where the femoral head is broken off and is otherwise hard to remove,’ says Greg Packer, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Spire Wellesley hospital and Southend University hospital. ‘it makes getting the head out much easier.’

he says they are helpful in other operations, too. ‘During wrist replacements i use a much smaller corkscrew to remove the bones of the wrist. And in revision surgery [when an existing joint replacement is replaced], it’s quite common to insert a corkscrew into the implant you want to remove. They make removing devices from bony canals much easier.’

EGG WHISK

A TINY high-speed egg whisk-like device can keep blood flowing round the body during surgery. it lets patients with weak hearts have an artery unblocked without risk of kidney failure or cardiac arrest.

The device is transported inside a long tube, through an incision in the groin. it’s fed to the major blood vessel, the aorta, that runs from the heart to the abdomen.

Once in place near the heart, the device is unloaded from the long tube, the protective cage is opened and propeller arms unfolded.

When switched on it can achieve up to 12,000rpm. This helps push the blood around the body and transport blood to the kidneys.

‘We know the technology works, and it means we can lower the risk of carrying out surgery on patients with heart failure,’ says Dr Punit Ramrakha, a consultant cardiologist at hammersmith hospital.

CLING FILM

A hi-Tech version of the kitchen wrap is used to help prevent adhesions forming after surgery.

Adhesions are tough bands of scar tissue that form around the incision and on nearby tissues and organs, potentially sticking them together. The most common problem this causes is chronic pain.

The surgical cling film acts as a barrier to fibrin, a protein found in the blood, that is produced in large quantities following trauma such as surgery. While it helps healing, it also encourages the growth of fibrous scars.

called RePeL-cV, the cling film material is approved for use in cardiac surgery.

it is put over the heart after surgery to prevent adhesions forming around it and dissolves in the body, usually after four weeks — by which time the extra production of fibrin has stopped and the incision site has healed.

According to a study of 144 heart surgery patients presented at the U.S. Society of Thoracic Surgeons meeting in 2008, more than 70 per cent were free of significant adhesions after having had the cling film covering, compared to less than 30 per cent of those who did not have the treatment.

‘cling film is great,’ says Professor Raj Persad, a consultant uro-oncology surgeon at the North Bristol NhS Trust and Bristol Urology Associates.

‘We also use it to stick on the abdomen and make incisions through it so organisms on the skin don’t penetrate the wound. it is also used in prosthetic surgery in orthopaedics and urology.’

MICROWAVES

IN The kitchen microwave ovens emit waves of electromagnetic radiation energy that are absorbed by water molecules, making them vibrate and generate heat.

The same principle applies to the use of microwaves in medicine, where they can be a less invasive alternative to surgery.

A device that emits microwaves is sometimes used to reduce an enlarged prostate gland.

The heat is targeted to destroy excess tissue that grows over time. Transurethral microwave therapy (TUMT), as it is called, can be performed as an outpatient procedure and reduces the increased need to go to the loo that occurs with an enlarged prostate.

Similar microwave devices are used in cancer patients to destroy malignant tissue in, for example, the breast, liver, lung and colon.

Microwave treatment is also used to treat excessive sweating. The patient is given a local anaesthetic and a hand-held device that emits microwave energy heats and shrinks, or destroys, sweat glands. An hour-long treatment led to an 82 per cent reduction in sweating, according to a study of 24 patients at Johns hopkins University.

FOOD MIXERS

A FOOD mixer-like device is being used in the treatment of burns. it spins blood at the hospital bedside to produce a gel that is put onto the burn. Growth factor proteins and other compounds from the spun blood trigger faster healing, so there is no need for painful and costly skin grafts.

Blood consists of a liquid, called plasma, and red and white blood cells and platelets. The platelets are crucial for clotting, but also contain growth factors which play a role in the healing of injuries.

in the new Magellan therapy, blood from a patient’s arm is put into a mixer — about the size of a kitchen mixer — which spins the blood for several minutes to isolate the plasma and the platelets.

This platelet-rich plasma is then delivered into a syringe ready for immediate use as a gel.

Mixers also mix bone cement used by orthopaedic surgeons.

CHEESE GRATER

SO- cALLeD cheese grater reamers are used by orthopaedic surgeons to shape bones. in a hip joint replacement the grater may shape the cup-like socket into which the artificial joint will fit.

The hand-held device has a rotating semi- circular ‘grater’ head to shape the bone.

‘cheese grater reamers are very efficient,’ says Mr Packer. ‘ They are especially useful if the implant is to be put in without cement, as it has to fit precisely.’

PICKLE FORK

SURGEONS call the surgical devices with two blades that they use during operations to release scar tissue pickle forks, due to their close resemblance to the double-pronged kitchen implement. They are used to tackle scar tissue that forms under the skin and gives it an uneven appearance — as happens with acne — so it can be successfully removed. Pickle forks are also used in cellulite treatment to cut the fibrous cords under the skin that give it a lumpy appearance.

KITCHEN FOIL

FOIL can help patients with hypothermia, when the body temperature drops dangerously low.

Patients who have had a severe trauma are at risk of low body temperature and so may be given warm fluids intravenously.

however, the fluids can cool down as they pass through the tubes into the patient.

in a study reported in the Journal of Trauma and injury two years ago, doctors experimented with wrapping the infusion line in aluminium foil, and it worked.

‘The use of warm fluids and blood components is essential to reduce the probability of hypothermia,’ reported doctors from chosun University, South korea.

‘ This study showed the foil wrapped around the infusion line had an insulator effect … and can be used to avoid hypothermia.’

SPOONS

SURGICAL grade teaspoons are used to scoop out tissue and clean wounds. Dentists sometimes use spoons to scrape a cavity prior to a filling.

The Journal of Shoulder and elbow Surgery has reported on the use of a dessert spoon to lift tissue in shoulder joint surgery and free trapped nerves.

Seven years ago, doctors from Ngwelezana hospital, in South Africa, reported how they used a wooden spoon to prevent internal bleeding during heart surgery.