Spokeshaves to Scalpels

How woodworking helped make better surgical tools

Published in Canadian Home Workshop

From SPOKESHAVES TO SCALPELS, tool designer Leonard Lee has really branched out.

“It’s not a big stretch to go from hand tools in woodworking to the hand tools in medicine,” says Lee, founder of Canica Design Inc., a medical tool company in Almonte, Ontario. “An orthopedic surgeon’s work is much like the work of cabinet makers or restoration people; it’s the repair or replacement of defective parts”

What made him draw this connection between wood and medicine?  Well, after being president of Lee Valley Tools in Ottawa for over 20 years, Lee discovered his woodworking tools could serve another purpose. He received a call from customer and tool enthusiast Dr. Michael Bell, a plastic surgeon. During the conversation, Bell said that he used Lee Valley Tools for surgery!

“He was using one of our carving knives,” recalls Lee, “And he was using it as a scalpel.” Bell said the handle on the knife was more comfortable and easier to grip than a medical scalpel. And since the tool could be sterilized, the doctor was able to use it the clinic. The challenge was that the steel sleeve inside the collet was rusting from being sterilized with high-pressure steam.

Although Lee remained at the helm of Lee Valley until 2002, when he left his son Robin in charge day-today, Lee founded Canica Design in 1998. He hired a team to design a scalpel with a stainless steel, ergonomic handle, which became the Canica Standard Scalpel.

Bell had Lee’s second collaboration made use of rare-earth magnets. Bell came up with the idea for the Chess Surgery System, a way for magnetic anchors attached to retractors to hold open skin during surgical procedures.  This saves on operating room staff who would otherwise be required to do the job. The system uses rare earth magnets inside anchors shaped like and a queen from a chess set. As Lee explains, “The magnets are modified to withstand autoclave temperatures without losing strength.”

However, Lee adds, “The most important thing developed to date is the wound closure system.” A technique used in woodworking are also applied here as a way to close large cuts or wounds. Lee compares it to a vertical crack in a round chair leg: “If you use a metal clamp you’ll crush the wood,” he says. An alternative is to use latex tubing and wrap it around the leg: with each wrap you can increase the pressure and close the crack.

In the Dynamic Wound Closure System, adhesive elastomers are used in the form of silicone tubing that is placed across the open wound and held between anchors. Under tension, the elastomers restore gently close the wound. The technique reduces healing time reduces stress on patients and has now become a standard procedure in many Canadian hospitals.

 Applying woodworking concepts to medical care has been a rewarding project for Lee, who says, “You feel you’re doing really significant work.”