Surgical Design Troubleshooting Guide

Care & Maintenance: Phaco Hand Pieces

Cleaning the Phaco Handpiece
Cleaning of the phaco hand piece after a case before sterilization is required. Flush 60cc of sterile water or distilled water thru the aspiration and irrigation connections at the rear of the hand piece. Then flush air thru each connection to remove the bulk of the water in the hand piece. Check to make sure phaco tips are tight and not damage in the hand piece. When checking the phaco tip make sure that it is not bent and that the end of the tip was not damaged by a use of a second instrument during the procedure. If the tip is found to be bent or damaged replace the tip. Check to make sure that the Cobra Sleeve is not worn or damaged. Check that the position of the sleeve is correct and not too far forward on the tip. Make sure that the hand piece is properly assembled and cocoon is loose and not torn. Check that O rings are not damaged, replace as need it. Check the wire and plug for broken wires or excessive wear.
Note: A simple test can be done to check the performance of a phaco hand piece. Take the hand piece with no lines attached and plug it into the console. Set the console for phaco mode with the power turn down to zero. TURN OFF THE LINEAR FUNICTION. Place the phaco tip in a cup of water, so that the tip is submerged about eighth of an inch. Step on the foot switch all the way to the floor in position # 3. Gradually turn the phaco power up from Zero observing the aspiration port at the rear of the hand piece. A good hand piece will start to cavitate water out this port at power levels around 35 to 45 percent power.

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