Bishop Harmon Iris Tissue Forceps, 0.4 or 0.6 mm Tip, Fenestrated Handle

What bishop harmon iris tissue forceps are

Bishop harmon iris tissue forceps are a small ophthalmic thumb forceps, closed by finger pressure alone with no ratchet and no catch anywhere on the instrument. The tips are fine enough to lift tissue inside the front of the eye, and the handles carry three holes cut through each side. They are made by Adas Instruments, reusable and fully autoclavable.

Two things define the bishop harmon iris forceps pattern. The tip is measured in tenths of a millimetre rather than in millimetres, which is what lets it hold an iris edge. And the fenestrated handle makes the instrument light in a way a solid handle cannot be, which matters more than it sounds like it should.

Catalogues write the name both ways, hyphenated and not, and both refer to this instrument. The bishop harmon forceps uses that follow are the same whichever spelling the order arrives in, and some catalogues list the pattern as bishop harmon thumb forceps, which is accurate: there is no ratchet on it.

The fenestrated handle, and why it exists

This is the part worth understanding before choosing between bishop harmon iris forceps and a plain iris forceps.

Three holes through each handle remove metal. On a large instrument that would be cosmetic. On something this small it changes the balance in the hand, and it changes how much of the tissue you can feel through the steel.

Fine surgery is done by feel as much as by sight. A surgeon working under a microscope cannot see the pressure being applied, only the result of it, so the information has to arrive through the fingers. A lighter handle carries more of it.

• Three fenestrations per side. Less weight to hold up across a list.
• Two tip thicknesses. 0.4 mm and 0.6 mm.
• Two jaw patterns. 1×2 interlocking teeth, or fine cross serrations.
• No locking mechanism. A pure thumb forceps.

Builds we ship

Four builds of bishop harmon iris tissue forceps, two tip thicknesses in two jaw patterns.

Nothing is listed there that we do not hold. The tip thickness and the jaw are specified on the order rather than carried as separate item codes.

Where these are used

Buyers looking at ophthalmic forceps types usually arrive at bishop harmon iris forceps from the eye, and the pattern is still mostly an eye instrument. It is not only that.

The reason it travels is the same reason as for any fine forceps. A great deal of surgery involves tissue too small for a general instrument and not small enough to need a true microsurgical one, and a 0.4 mm tip sits in that gap.

Tissue, and the build to ask for

Bishop harmon iris forceps carry no needle and no suture, so the only question is what they are holding.

Ordering one pair? Take the 0.6 mm serrated. It is the pair that gets picked up most often and it will handle work in both directions. Ordering two? Make the second a 0.4 mm with 1×2 teeth, and between them you have covered an oculoplastic tray.

How it compares with the neighbours

These are the instruments people weigh against each other before ordering.

Two things bishop harmon iris forceps will not do. They will not hold a thick skin edge under tension, because the jaws are too small to spread that load. And a serrated pair will not replace a toothed pair on skin, however fine the serrations are, because friction and interlocking are different kinds of grip.

Materials and finish

Every pair of bishop harmon iris forceps is made in high quality medical grade stainless steel. The steel itself is made to a German specification. Every pair is passivated and boil tested before packing, and the finish is satin rather than mirror so the tips stay readable against wet tissue and under a microscope light.

On an instrument this fine the tips decide everything. They are ground and then meeting checked by hand, because a pair that meets at the very point but gapes a fraction behind it will hold a suture and drop a piece of conjunctiva, and that fault cannot be seen without looking along the closed jaws against a light.

Care and sterilization

Rinse bishop harmon iris forceps in cool water straight after use so nothing dries between the serrations or in the fenestrations. Clean with a neutral pH enzymatic detergent and an ultrasonic bath, rinse in deionized water, dry fully, then steam autoclave at 134 degrees Celsius.

Store the iris forceps tips protected. More fine forceps are ruined in a drawer than in a patient: a tip that has been dropped, or that has had something heavier laid across it, will never meet cleanly again. Check along the closed jaws against a bright light before each list and retire any pair showing daylight between the tips.

Ordering and wholesale

Bishop harmon iris tissue forceps are supplied by Adas Instruments to hospitals, surgical distributors and OEM buyers, in single units and in bulk. The item code is AC-301.08 and it is printed in the build table above so a procurement search finds it. Backorder items dispatch in 10 to 12 working days. Every instrument carries a three year replacement against manufacturing defects.

For wholesale and OEM orders, instruments ship unpackaged in bulk or individually poly bagged, and laser marking with a distributor code or a hospital asset number is available on the shaft. Tell us the tip thickness, the jaw and the quantity and the quotation comes back with the lead time for that run.

Production is controlled under an ISO 13485 quality management system.

Frequently asked questions

What are Bishop Harmon iris forceps used for?

Holding the structures at the front of the eye. Iris, conjunctiva, a corneal edge during a graft, the thin tissue of a lid. They are also used well outside the eye, in fine skin closure and in laboratory dissection under a microscope, because the tip size suits anything too small for a general forceps.

What are the three holes in Bishop Harmon forceps for?

Weight, and feel. Each hole takes metal out of the handle, and on an instrument this small that changes how much you can sense through your fingers. Over a forty minute list the difference is real: less to hold up, more information coming back. The holes also give the fingers something to sit against, so the grip does not creep.

0.4 mm or 0.6 mm tip, which should I order?

0.4 mm for work inside the anterior chamber and for anything you can see through. 0.6 mm when you are holding a skin edge or a conjunctival flap that has some substance to it and you want a wider face on the tissue. If you are ordering one pair only, take 0.6 mm: it will do the finer work at a slight cost in delicacy, where the 0.4 mm will not do the heavier work at all.

Should I order 1×2 teeth or serrated?

Teeth for skin, serrated for anything else. A single tooth dropping between two will not slide on a lid edge, and the two marks it leaves are inside the wound. On conjunctiva or iris the same tooth goes through, so there the cross serrations do the work by friction across a wide face instead.

How do Bishop Harmon forceps differ from plain iris forceps?

The jaws are the same work. The handle is the difference: fenestrated here, solid on a plain iris pair. If you already know which jaw you want, the choice between the two comes down to how the handle feels after a long sitting rather than to what the tips can do.

Related products and categories

Buyers usually compare bishop harmon iris tissue forceps against plain iris forceps, which carry the same jaws in a solid handle, the castroviejo suture forceps for when suture has to be tied as well as held, and the micro adson forceps for fine tissue away from the eye. The pattern sits in dressing and tissue forceps, and it is also listed under blepharoplasty instruments.