Benegraft

Rhinoplasties are procedures in which plastic surgeons augment or reduce structures of the nose to resolve functional and aesthetic issues. Over 200,000 rhinoplasties are performed in the US annually, with a majority requiring the use of cartilage grafts. These grafts are typically harvested from the patient or a cadaver and provide structure or contour to the nose. Prior to implantation, grafts are shaped by the surgeon into the desired form by carving, crushing, or dicing the tissue. Dicing is the superior technique for developing contour grafts as it results in the fewest postoperative surgical complications, with revision rates estimated at 5% compared to 20% overall for the procedure. Despite its clinical benefits, surgical adoption of dicing methods is low due to the laborious and time-intensive process of manually dicing cartilage with a scalpel to the desired size (1 mm). As evidenced in surgeon feedback, the time required to dice cartilage is the primary factor discouraging surgeon use, taking up to 2 hours depending on the volume of cartilage necessary. Surgeons face issues with the cartilage sticking to the blade and their gloves, and difficulty cutting small pieces of hard cartilage. Thus, there is a need for a simplified surgical workflow for dicing cartilage in rhinoplasties. Benegraft is developing a novel device which can rapidly process cartilage, saving time in the OR and encouraging adoption of the dicing technique to improve patient outcomes.