Humeca products

Every doctor will admit, burn wound treatment involves multiple challenges. There is a great risk of infections and poor epithelialization and the lack of auto graft donor sites is a limiting factor in achieving wound closure in cases of extensive skin defects.

Humeca designed two cordless, battery operated dermatomes. A small one, the D42 and a larger one, the D80. The D42, a very maneuverable instrument, is an excellent tool in pediatric and general plastic surgery, especially for primary excision and harvesting grafts from curved surfaces. It also facilitates to harvest the 42×42 mm (1.65×1.65″) grafts required for Humeca’s MEEK technique, speeding up the procedure. The larger D80 dermatome was developed for more general use.

The Humeca mesher is provided with a unique spring mechanism that prevents the blades from excessive pressure on the carrier during cutting, thus increasing the life time of the blades. The mesher can be adjusted in two positions: one to fit V10- or Zimmer® carriers and one to fit V15- or Aesculap® / B.Braun® carriers. During cutting, the carrier is guided both at the left and the right side to assure straight movement and exact connection of the grooves of a second carrier if applied.

By expanding the Humeca product portfolio with these devices, we can now offer products that cover manual free handed harvest of (split-thickness) skin grafts and debridement of wounds, retaining our one-stop shop image for burn surgeons. These iconic devices are used in many hospitals around the world to treat burn patients. Although the devices might be common and familiar, they are made according to Humeca’s standards. High quality stainless steel and aluminium materials are used, as well as a controlled manufacturing process to deliver high quality products fitting of Humeca’s goals.

In co-operation with the Dutch surgeon Dr. Willem Nugteren, Humeca developed a dermatome for freehanded harvesting of a 30 mm (1¼ in.) wide split skin graft with a pre-determined thickness of about 0.25 mm (0.001 in.). This one-of-a-kind product is called the Sober dermatome. The shape of the Sober dermatome was derived from a safety razor. Humeca supplies special low-cost blades that are to be used with this dermatome.

Humeca supplies a range of high quality blades for different types of dermatomes. For the D42 and D80 cordless dermatomes and for the hand held Sober dermatome, Humeca supplies symmetrical and double facet grinded blades for minimum resistance and uniform graft thickness. The blade moves at a maximum speed of over 7000 strokes per minute (unloaded). This assures smooth cutting operation and also enables very thin grafting.

Humeca introduces a range of grooved skin graft carriers, called ‘V-carriers’. The symmetric V-shaped groove pattern of these carriers prevents unwanted sideward movement during cutting. The standard length of these carriers is 28 cm and thus longer than the length of existing carriers and care has been taken to ensure that the groove pattern of the carriers connect to each other. This enables cutting of extra-long graft strips. The V-carriers are available in versions that are compatible with Zimmer^® meshers and versions that are compatible with Aesculap^® / B.Braun^® meshers. Of course both versions are suitable for use in the Humeca mesher. Available expansion ratios: 1:1,  1:1.5,  1:2, 1:3  and  1:6. The 1:1 carrier only perforates the graft without the intention of expanding it.