ENDOSYS Equipment For Shaver System

Endosys markets its shaver system under the brand name of Nixtronics. Nixtronics occupies the most trusted seat in the minds of an orthopaedic surgeon today. Endosys is a world-wide leader in Arthroscopy and shaver with blades forms a major part of Arthroscopy market. Nixtronics shavers have been in the market for a long time now and have evolved with changing times and needs of Arthroscopists. The current shaver from Nixtronics is called Swavinda Shaver System that has many unique features.

SWAVINDA shaver system comprises of control unit, motor drive unit, foot switch and disposable blades. Note that SWAVINDA does not have any reusable cutters. Though not reusable, many surgeons use Gluteraldehyde solution (Cidex) for sterilising these blades and reuse them. Our blades can easily go upto 15-20 procedures. The catalogue numbers mentioned above are not exhaustive. They have been mentioned here simply because of their popularity in the Indian market. The control unit’s rear panel consists of just two connectors. One is the power input connection and the other is a serial communication port (RS232). This port is used to connect to either fluid management system like IntelliJet or video-on device that displays the direction and speed of the blade-in-use on the monitor. The front panel of control unit consists of one connector for foot switch, 2 connectors for motor drive units, power-on switch and a display window. The display window reads the direction and speed of the blade-in-use. It also displays the minimum and maximum speed of the blade in a particular mode of operation. The front panel also has two more buttons for increasing and decreasing the speed of blades.

The direction of rotation is controlled using the foot switch. The foot switch mentioned above is the low profile foot switch, variable speed. Besides this, SWAVINDA also has two more types of foot switches, low profile, on/of type and pedal type, on/off. Pedal type of foot switch is the more conventional in shape. Some surgeons ask specifically for this kind of foot switch as they are habituated to it from previous models. Operating it is like pressing on the accelerator of the car and hence easier for the surgeon. But low profile foot switches make it less bulky in size and better looking. The low profile foot switch has three switches for each direction of rotation, i.e. clockwise, anti-clockwise and oscillatory. Many of the competitors do not have a separate switch for oscillatory mode of operation. Even in our pedal type of foot switch, oscillatory mode is activated by pressing both the switches simultaneously. This simultaneous pressing can be uncomfortable.

Besides these three switches, our low profile foot switch also has a fourth switch that is for Window Lock feature. This feature is unique to SWAVINDA system. No other shaver in the world has this facility. This feature is the unique selling point in our SWAVINDA. In ordinary shavers, when a surgeon stops pressing the foot switch and the blade comes to stop, the surgeon does not have any control on the size of window of the blade. It is desirable that the surgeon has control on it because at the start of procedure, he might have to like the size of window as per his requirement. For example, when moving in and out of the soft tissue which is not damaged, it is preferable to have the entire window closed in order to avoid it from getting entangled in the teeth of blade. At the same time, when he/she wants to resect soft tissue using oscillatory mode, it is preferable to have the window completely open as it gives cutting in both the directions from the first sweep itself and also provides for maximum suction. The window lock switch o the foot switch of SWAVINDA shaver actually puts this control in the hands of surgeon rather than leaving it on destiny. By continuously pressing this window lock switch, one can see the blade rotate slowly n fixed steps. At the desired size of window, the surgeon has to release the window lock switch. Now, for however log, the surgeon uses this blade, it will always stop rotating in the set position. In case of pedal type foot switch, this feature can be actuated by pressing the ‘slower’ and ‘faster’ switches on the front panel of control unit simultaneously.

The foot switch gives commands to the motor drive unit through the control unit. The direction is given by foot switch and speed by the control unit. The motor drive unit mentioned above is the standard one that is preferred in Indian market. Besides attachment for blades, it provides a suction control level which restricts suction at a desired level. Suction control is continuously variable. The other type of hand piece that is available in SWAVINDA shaver is with hand control buttons. Hand control buttons are present on the motor drive unit and control the direction of rotation of blade (function of foot switch). Though it might be very comfortable for the surgeon to operate using this motor drive unit, note that it is not advisable to sell this particular hand piece because the hand control buttons tend to become defective in short time periods.

SWAVINDA shaver offers the largest range of blades and burrs in the world. It offers blades in least aggressive, more aggressive and most aggressive variants while burrs are available in least aggressive and most aggressive variants. This wide choice of blades in different categories makes it possible for the surgeon to get just the right amount of aggression in his procedures. Aggressive blades and burrs reduce the OT time and efforts of surgeons drastically making it possible to have better turnover of patients. This in turn means better economies for the hospital as well as the surgeon. Besides the window lock facility, another unique selling point of SWAVINDA shaver is that it has a maximum speed of 8000RPM. Some of the burrs actually rotate at this speed making abrasion of bones easy. Other blades have maximum speed of 5000RPM. To attain these kind of high speeds without seizing, our blades are manufactured using special processes. All our blades undergo electro-polishing process that gives near perfect smooth surface that reduces the friction between the inner tube and the outer tube. Over and above this, lubricity is increased by silver/nickel plating that also makes it vibration free. Silver used to be used earlier on but since it blackens over time, Nickel is used increasingly. Finally, the inner and outer tubes are cut at a unique angle (71deg) that makes them extra sharp and reduces the force for cutting by around 32% over the competition.

As in the case of hand held instruments, it is also essential to know at least one example of each type. The following table specifies the different types of blades and burrs and their examples: