title: Micromorphometric analysis of bone blocks harvested with eight different ultrasonic and sonic devices for osseous surgery.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to analyse in vitro the main features of osteotomies performed by means of different ultrasonic and sonic systems for bone surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Six ultrasonic and two sonic devices for osseous surgery were evaluated during block harvesting on bovine bone. After measuring cutting speed, images of the blocks were acquired by light stereo-microscope and E-SEM, in order to measure the osteotomy thickness and to evaluate the presence of intra-trabecular bone debris and signs of thermal injuries on the bone. Roughness evaluation was performed using a profilometer.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All the ultrasonic instruments required a shorter time than sonic systems to perform the block harvesting (p < 0.05). Piezomed was found to be the most efficient in terms of cutting speed (20.5 mm(2)/min), even if not significantly different from most of the devices here tested (p > 0.05). K-Bisonic and Variosurg 3 showed the smallest percentage variance between tip thickness and osteotomy width. Intra-trabecular debris was found to occur in inverse proportion with the width of the osteotomy: the tighter the track, the higher the amount of debris. Sonicflex Bone, Piezotome 2 and Sonosurgery showed almost no signs of thermal injuries on the osteotomised surfaces.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  No single ultrasonic or sonic device combined all the best features of speed, precision and bone micro-architecture preservation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, Italy. Electronic address: claudio@stacchi.it.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stacchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Berton
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Turco
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Franco
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara Ottavia
authors.initials: CO
authors.lastname: Navarra
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Andolsek
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maglione
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Di Lenarda
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D004867:Equipment Design; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D010027:Osteotomy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D013499:Surface Properties; D059708:Ultrasonic Surgical Procedures / Q000295:instrumentation*
keywords: Bone cutting; Piezoelectric surgery; Piezosurgery; Sonic osteotomy; Ultrasonic osteotomy