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Generations of innovation in medical device design

Erbe Medical UK Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Erbe Elektromedizin GmbH, dealing primarily in the supply and service of medical equipment for the use in electrosurgical procedures. Erbe Medical UK Ltd was opened in October 1996 at Morley, near Leeds.

Erbe Medical UK Ltd was opened in October 1996 at Morley, near Leeds. As a family-owned and operated business, it has been developing, manufacturing and marketing medical devices for professional use across a wide field of clinical applications for five generations.

Erbe Medical has a long history of innovation in the design of medical technologies. Christian Heinrich Erbe, the founder, first opened a mechanics workshop in Tuebingen, Germany, in 1851. In collaboration with the surgeon Professor Victor von Bruns, he developed new designs that set new standards in the field of medicine – a pioneering spirit that continues today.

History of innovation

In the mid-19th century, galvanocaustic therapy comprised using platinum wire that was heated by electrical current to separate human tissue. The instruments used in galvanocaustic therapy as described by Prof. Victor von Bruns were among the first medical electrical devices to be manufactured by Erbe from the 1850s onwards. Bruns, a surgeon with an international reputation, carried out pioneering work in laryngeal surgery. Christian Heinrich Erbe designed a variety of new instruments for him for use in galvanocaustic therapy, which continued to be used almost unaltered for decades.

In 1882, his son, Christian Gottlieb Erbe, took over the workshop and continued to broaden the company’s selection of products – adding induction equipment, microtomes, endoscopy lighting and ophthalmological instruments to the existing repertoire of instruments.

Whether faradic, direct or alternating current, or at low or high voltages: in 1900, electricity was being used in medicine in increasingly varied fashion. In the Erbe workshop and retail store a wide selection of medical electrical equipment and accessories could be purchased, in addition to optical equipment. The top seller was induction equipment that delivered electricity for surgical applications and electrical muscle stimulation.

Diathermy

At the beginning of the 20th century, diathermy devices were increasingly used both for therapeutic as well as for surgical applications. Around 1920, Erbe launched the first electrosurgical units onto the market. This was followed in 1923 by the first electrosurgical unit designed exclusively for surgical applications, the Erbotherm 900 HC. It was equipped with the tungsten spark gap, which was developed in-house, the contacts of which were less susceptible to corrosion and permitted adjustable levels of current. The name became a brand: in 1930, the Erbotherm series was joined by Erbotom. The first ultra-short-wave devices with tube generators were produced.

From 1954 onwards, Erbe produced the Erbotom Multiplex, an electrosurgical unit that combined two generators, enabling universal use in all medical fields. Subject to continued refinement, the Erbotom Multiplex remained a leading company model for decades.

Modern advances in electrosurgery

At the beginning of the 1980s, the age of tube-based equipment in electrical medical applications had finally passed. The devices were being built using powerful transistors. One of the first units in the successful T series was the 400-watt Erbotom T 400 C.

In 1985, Erbe was the first manufacturer in the world to design a self-regulating electrosurgical unit, the Erbotom TUR. Its development was based on microprocessor technology and on a new type of generator, and represented a milestone in the history of the company. It was used for the surgical removal of parts of the prostate via the urethra.

Cutting and coagulation, automatically regulated by microprocessors was the technology upon which Erbe developed the ICC series in 1992: “Intelligent Cut and Coagulation” was the regulated electrosurgical cutting procedure that made the company a leader internationally in electrosurgical technology. By monitoring different values during endoscopic surgery, the ICC units guaranteed doctors optimum cutting as well as controlled staunching of blood, while also ensuring minimum tissue damage. With more than 80,000 units installed, the ICC series became the most successful range of electrosurgical generators ever produced by Erbe.

In 1995 in collaboration with the surgeon Professor Karl-Ernst Grund of Tuebingen University Hospital, Erbe developed the first flexible probe for use in argon-plasma coagulation (APC) in endoscopic surgery. Argon-plasma coagulation is particularly suited to surface staunching of blood as well as to devitalisation of tissue. For this purpose, the current is routed to the tissue via an ionised jet of argon gas, without any direct tissue contact. The procedure is suited to the staunching of blood following injury or biopsies, or for use in the case of certain tumours.

In 2002, the electrosurgical system Erbe VIO was launched on the market. Using VIO, clinics and practice-based specialist physicians can combine instruments and additional components in a manner tailored to suit their individual needs, all in a single workstation. The VIO product range offers custom electrosurgery for a wide variety of applications, from general surgery to gynaecology, and from gastroenterology to urology. The VIO workstations support compatibility and networking with OR systems and robotic systems from other manufacturers.

Other advances in recent years have included the HybridKnife – the only instrument on the medical engineering market that combines electrosurgery with waterjet surgery. It enables, for example, fast and inexpensive removal of changes and tumours in the mucosa of the gastrointestinal tract through endoscopic intervention. HybridKnife allows the essential steps to be carried out, from marking to elevation, and from dissection to staunching of bleeding, without any change of instrument.

Most recently, Erbe has focused its efforts on developing technologies that facilitate innovative surgical procedures that are gentler from the patient’s perspective, and support more effective surgery. This includes the BiCision instrument which is designed to expose tissue structures, staunch blood, seal blood vessels through heat, and perform cutting. With BiCision, surgeons can separate blood vessels and tissue bundles directly following electrosurgical sealing, without changing instruments.

Erbe has developed at an incredible pace and the company now employs 941 members of staff worldwide. Working closely with users, it has become an active driving force for advancing technology and is constantly on the lookout for new ideas and improvements. This means thinking progressively while at the same time ensuring reliability. These are the company’s core values, built on a long history of generations of innovation.  

Erbe Medical UK Ltd
Bruntcliffe Way
Morley
Leeds
LS27 0JG

Tel: 0113 253 0333
Email: Sales@erbe-uk.com
Web: erbe-uk.com

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Upcoming Events

Central Sterilising Club - Annual Scientific Meeting 2024

Crowne Plaza at Gerrard’s Cross
15th April 2024 – 16th April 2024

DECON UK 2024

National Conference Centre, Birmingham
17th April 2024

Infection Prevention & Control

National Conference Centre, Birmingham
23rd - 24th April 2024

Theatres & Decontamination Conference 2024

Coventry Building Society Arena
16th May 2024

The AfPP Roadshow - Birmingham

Millennium Point, Birmingham
18th May 2024

The AfPP Roadshow - Exeter

University of Exeter
22nd June 2024

Access the latest issue of Clinical Services Journal on your mobile device together with an archive of back issues.

Download the FREE Clinical Services Journal app from your device's App store

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