When a cartilage isograft is to be implanted in the nose, as in a saddle nose defect, or in the ear, as in microtia or anotia, it is always time consuming to carve by hand an implant of exactly the right dimensions and form to fill the defect. This is accomplished by whittling off from a block of preserved rib cartilage, with a Bard-Parker knife, small amounts of cartilage at a time until the proper dimensions have been reached. To whittle a straight line for a nasal dorsum or a smooth thin piece for an aural implant is always slow and difficult.
The instrument shown in the accompanying illustration simplifies the fashioning of these cartilage isografts considerably. With it, a block of cartilage can be cut down to the right size and thickness rapidly. Then only a small amout of finishing by hand is necessary.
With the common paper