Provides Real-Life Tactile Feedback for Dissection, Electrocautery, and Resection
This hand-worn dissection device allows for precise and direct manual dissection of tissues via electrocautery. The accurate dissection of soft tissue is critical to surgical outcomes during an open procedure, especially for the removal of benign and malignant lesions which is associated with a slim margin for error. In many types of surgery, tactile feedback is crucial for determining the exact dissection location, with distinct types of tissues being more readily distinguishable with touch rather than visually.
However, conventional dissection methods employ electrocautery and surgical instruments, limiting direct tactile feedback. In many places within the body, the ability to get electrocautery devices directly to the necessary locations results in significant difficulty, or the need to employ techniques like robotic surgery which can be costly and time-consuming. The imprecise dissection with traditional techniques can lead to greater blood loss, more damage to nearby structures, and all of the complications associated with longer surgeries.
Researchers at the University of Florida have developed a hand-worn dissection device for the precise dissection of soft tissue. Worn directly on a surgeon’s finger(s), it provides real-life tactile feedback. This can be employed in a monopolar or bipolar fashion, and interface with standard electrosurgical units already employed at hospitals worldwide. This apparatus circumvents many of the shortcomings traditional tissue dissection strategies present.
Application
Hand-worn dissection device provides tactile feedback for the precise dissection of soft tissues during surgery
Advantages
- Tactile feedback distinguishes distinct types of tissues, reducing the need for visual inspection
- Allows for palpation of the entire area of tissue before and during dissection, increasing precision during surgery
- Increases the range of anatomic locations which can be accessed safely during surgery
- The devices naturally brings the electrode in direct contact with tissues and pushes away fluids, allowing the device to function “underwater” where traditional electrocautery devices would not work
- Allows for rapid dissection of tissue, minimizing risks associated with long surgical procedures
- Reduces the size of incisions, downsizing morbidities related to larger exposures
- Allows for monopolar and bipolar electrocautery, increasing surgical options available to the surgeon
- Works with standard electrosurgical units worldwide, making it immediately marketable and available to hospitals without additional capital expenditures
Technology
This hand-worn dissection device consists of a thin, flexible, and insulating cap a surgeon can wear over their gloved index finger and thumb. It enables the precise dissection of the soft tissue by providing tactile feedback during surgical procedures. An exposed conductive member serves as an incisive surface, while an insulated wire delivers radiofrequency energy in a monopolar fashion to the exposed part via traditional electrosurgical unit interfaces.
In monopolar mode, a single finger divides the tissue, while a different finger or footswitch can control the on/off and cut/coagulate behavior of the instrument. The insulating cap serves as a heat insulator to protect the surgeon’s fingers during this process. For bipolar operation, the surgeon can wear two insulating caps on two fingers of the same or opposing hands. In this mode of operation, the bipolar device can work with pre-existing technologies for current modulation, allowing it to seal blood vessels within the tissues.
The addition of computerized controls would also allow for the devices to switch instantaneously from monopolar to bipolar to instrument-coupled modes depending upon how much resistance is sensed through the system, allowing the system to intelligently deliver the type of current needed by the surgeon in real-time without changing instruments or relying on hand/foot switches.
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