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22 December 2014 Last updated at 10:48 GMT
But an ingenious cover makes hardware store drills safe for surgery - at a tiny fraction of the cost of specialist surgical drills.
In poorer countries, surgeons often have to rely on time-consuming manual drills for bone operations.
By making power drills affordable, the sterile cover allows surgeons to operate faster and help more patients.
The drill covers have been developed by a company called Arbutus Medical.
Catherine Byaruhanga reports from Uganda.
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Being operated on with an ordinary power drill might not sound too appealing.