Safety scalpels are versions of traditional scalpels which include engineered solutions to reduce the risk of sharps injury. They usually employ a retractable blade, a retractable sheath, or a blunt tip to the blade as part of their safety mechanism.
ECRI is an international non-profit organisation that conducts independent medical device evaluations. As a result of her previous work in this area (Ford and Phillips, 2008), SMTL R+D officer Jo Ford was asked to review ECRI's criteria, test methods, product profiles and technology background for a range of safety scalpels assessed by ECRI. The evaluations have now been published in ECRI's online journal 'Health Devices' : Scalpels, July, 2021.