Scalpel Handle No 4
Surgical scalpels consist of two parts, a blade and a handle. The
handles are reusable, with the blades being replaceable. In medical
applications, each blade is only used once (even if just for a single,
small cut).
The handle is also known as a B.P. handle, named after Charles
Russell Bard and Morgan Parker, founders of the Bard-Parker Company.
Morgan Parker patented the revolutionary 2-piece scalpel design in 1915
and Bard-Parker developed a method of cold sterilization that would not
dull the blades, as did the heat-based method that was previously used.
Medical scalpel handles come in two basic types. The first is a flat
handle used in the no3 and no4 handles. The no7 handle is more like a long
writing pen, rounded at the front and flat at the back. A no4 handle is
larger than a no3. Blades are manufactured with a corresponding fitment
size so that they fit on only one size handle. The following table of
blades is incomplete and some blades listed may work with handles not
specified here.