Trephine
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/Ancientgreek_surgical.jpg/220px-Ancientgreek_surgical.jpg)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/Dr_John_Clarke_trepanning_a_skull_operation.jpg/220px-Dr_John_Clarke_trepanning_a_skull_operation.jpg)
A trephine (/trɪˈfaɪn/; from Greek trypanon, meaning an instrument for boring)[2] is a surgical instrument with a cylindrical blade. It can be of one of several dimensions and designs depending on what it is meant to be used for. They may be specially designed for obtaining a cylindrically shaped core of bone that can be used for tests and bone studies, cutting holes in bones (e.g., the skull) or for cutting out a round piece of the cornea for eye surgery.
A cylindrically shaped core of bone (or bone biopsy) obtained with a bone marrow trephine is usually examined in the histopathology department of a hospital under a microscope. It shows the pattern and cellularity of the bone marrow as it lay in the bone and is a useful diagnostic tool in certain circumstances such as bone marrow cancer and leukemia.[citation needed]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Holmes, Oliver Wendell (September 18, 2008). Medical Essays.
- ^ τρύπανον. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project.
External links
[edit]- The American Cyclopædia. 1879. .